VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A firefighter was hospitalized after a three-alarm blaze at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront a that took more than 75 firefighters a little over five hours to extinguish Tuesday night.
The fire broke out around 5:15 p.m. at The T-Shirt Factory, according to Virginia Beach Fire Department Chief Kenneth Pravetz. That's in the area of 27th and Atlantic.
At the scene, Pravetz told said crews were met with heavy smoke. The fire quickly spread to two adjacent businesses: The Maple Tree Pancake House and King of the Sea restaurant.
Pravetz said a second and third alarm was called, then crews went into a defensive mode.
One firefighter went to the hospital with minor burn injuries, Pravetz said. Another firefighter was being evaluated at the scene.
There were employees in the building at the time, but they evacuated safely, Pravetz said.
Pravetz said the store would be a total loss.
The T-Shirt Factory, which was a total loss after the fire, will close permanently, according to owner Avinash Basnet. That is because Basnet said he cannot afford to keep the business open since the fire occurred during his peak season.
Basnet said he received a call Tuesday afternoon from an employee who said they saw smoke coming from a vent. But officials said Wednesday they are not sure whether the fire originated at the T-Shirt Factory or elsewhere.
Flames and smoke could be seen coming from the building and nearby businesses into the evening.
Schaefer Rimmer and Jordan Grant were just getting off work when they saw the fire grow around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday.
"It started slowly stacking, progressively getting worse and worse," Rimmer said.
"All of this smoke hurts more on your eyes than your lungs," Grant added.
Other residents that live near the T-Shirt Factory and King of the Sea restaurant, like Joshua Barbini and his 10-year-old son Evan, came over to get a glimpse of the blaze.
"A little bit scary," Evan said. "At a young age, 100 percent!"
"I log into Facebook and then see instant posts from about 5 to 10 streets away from the smoke stream," Joshua said. "There’s never been anything like this. This is big. We haven’t seen smoke impounding the environment to this extent ever."
Chief Pravetz talked about crews battling the fire at a time with high summer temperatures and a high number of visitors to the Resort City.
"The density here sometimes affects our operations, but our firefighters train for it. They’re very familiar with the Oceanfront area, and they’re used to working in this environment," Pravetz said. "It’s always concerning when there are a lot of people around, so we’re trying to do everything safely."
Pravetz said the fire did not impact any hotel operations, and the origin and cause of the fire is unknown.
While fire crews continue their investigation, he said their thoughts are with the businesses impacted.
"It’s going to be a little while before these places can recover, but we’ll help them do as quickly as we can," Pravetz said.
Fire officials said Pacific and Atlantic avenues were closed between 25th and 28th streets.
The fire was marked out at 10:45 p.m., officials said.
The next morning, fire crews were still at work and sprayed back water after it started smoking again.
Some employees even showed up to work, shocked to find their places of employment destroyed by the fire.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
