RICHMOND, Va. --The owner of a South Richmond market said he believed a Monday morning fire did about $1 million worth of damage to his business.
"It's just crazy you know," John Jeong, who has owned King's SuperMarket along the 2100 block of Keswick Avenue for 38 years, said. “I've been there for a long time. I know everybody."
Jeong said he woke up Monday morning to a notification that the alarm inside the grocery store was triggered. He then called the store's stocking manager, Wayne Bowman, who arrived around 6 a.m. to find fire crews battling flames and smoke.
"I got a call, and I woke up to somebody calling my phone saying like, King's is on fire," Leon Chapman, who has worked in the store's meat department for the last four years. said.
Richmond Fire crews said Richmond Police were called to the supermarket just before 6 a.m. for a burglary alarm, which Battalion Chief Kurt Gran believed was set off by the flames. Thankfully, no one was inside the building.
"We arrived with smoke and heat showing, and after a forced entry, found fire inside," said Gran.
It took crews two hours to get the fire under control.
“It was involved in the roof membrane, so they were trying to get on the roof and get in there and pull that part open and get to the fire inside," Gran said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Jeong said he hoped to rebuild King's, as it's the only grocery store within a mile radius.
"I mean I feel sorry for you know for everything, for the community and my customers," Jeong noted. "I don't know what they are going to do, you know."
"If you ask me, it's reliable," explained Bowman. "It's convenient for the ones that probably don't have a car."
Fire officials and Jeong expect the store to be closed for the next few months.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
