SALT LAKE CITY — Juan Plazola didn't wake up to the sound of his regular alarm clock on Tuesday, instead getting a call from his mother.
“She called me, I was asleep," he said, "she woke me up out of my sleep."
Plazola's mom called her son just after running out of a burning building in Salt Lake City, which was her place of work. Most of the Salt Lake Valley saw a massive plume of smoke arise from the downtown area as the snack factory housed in the old Golden Dragon restaurant was destroyed by fire.
“Three alarms on this, which give us about 14 heavy apparatus on scene," said Salt Lake City Fire Department Capt. Brent Hancuff, who was on the scene. "We have approximately 60 firefighter personnel here fighting this fire.”
After a few hours, firefighters were able to put out the flames, and no one was injured.
"Very heavy flames, very big smoke there ... they had flashover, which is a condition that they had to pull back out of the fire,” added Hancuff.
Drone video shows size of fire at old restaurant site:
Plazola and his older brother rushed to the location near 1500 South Main Street to make sure their mother was okay. Now, his mother and everyone else who worked at the business are out of work.
“She’s a little sad, she’s a little emotional," Plazola shared. "She’s alright though.”
Veronica Bojorquez, the owner of Luna Coffee and Crystals nearby, feels for her neighboring small business.
“We’re just grateful that we’re okay, and we’re so, so sad for that small business that basically lost everything,” said Bojorquez.
Everyone we spoke to shared how thankful they were that the employees got out in time.
Video below shows the size of the fire when crews arrived on scene (Austin Begay):
“It was like flames going up, so it was a little scary," Bojorquez added, "and knowing the business and it’s just so sad, so sad that they’re a small Hispanic business and now they’ve lost everything,”
The Salt Lake City Fire Department is still investigating the fire and its cause.
