Flames lit up the night sky as an intense fire ripped through a Modesto strip mall on Carver Road, early Saturday morning.
“A lot of flames. I could feel the heat from all the way on the other side,” said Trong Vuong.
Modesto fire says flames were already showing when they arrived around 1 a.m.
The fire spread fast to the neighboring units forcing them to call in additional trucks for help; it took 15 trucks to knock down the flames.
“By the time I got here, the fire had already spread halfway through the building here,” Vuong said.
Voung owns the Asian Market, all he could do was watch as his family's business burned.
“It's a family-owned business,” he said. “It's everything. It's our livelihood.
The market was well known in the city; it’s been in business for the last 35 years.