HOUSTON—A three-alarm fire swept through parts of a southwest Houston strip mall, destroying several businesses in its path early Wednesday.
Houston Fire Department officials said the fire began inside the M. Trading Wholesale Shop located in the 5900 block of Fondren at Harwin just before 5 a.m.
The business houses wholesale supplies sold to dollar stores. HFD said there may have been hair products or chemicals on the racks that helped fuel the flames.
Two more businesses next door to the wholesale shop, Jessie’s Nail Salon and Sloreria Lee’s flower shop, were also destroyed.
The owner of Star Korean Karaoke Bar said he was inside his business when a man riding a bicycle knocked on his door and alerted him to the fire. He was able to get out safely and call 911. His business was not damaged by the flames, but may have smoke damage.
The family that runs M. Trading Wholesale has owned the strip shopping center for almost 30 years, and had been struggling to recover from the tough economy and Hurricane Ike.
“They had a pretty hard loss from Ike because their roof got ripped back like a sardine can, [the] lost all their inventory then, and finally built back up, and now, almost the two-year anniversary of Ike, and now they're having to go through it all over again," said Adam Miller of InsurTexas, the family's insurance agent.
One firefighter was injured battling the blaze. He was treated at the scene for a laceration on his hand.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
