KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Raytown firefighters have called on the Office of the Missouri State Fire Marshal to help investigate what caused a strip mall to catch fire overnight.
Crews were dispatched to 6210 Raytown Trafficway just before 2 a.m. Wednesday.
Firefighters on scene said the entire interior of a body sculpting studio was on fire and it took about 30 minutes to put out the flames. No one was injured in the fire.
Nearby businesses suffered smoke and heat damage. The body contouring business where firefighters believe the fire started, Bodied by Starr, was a total loss.
The damaged businesses include an H&R Block, Allstate, UPS, a barbershop and two restaurants.
“We looked in our (surveillance) cameras (from home) and all we could see was smoke, we couldn’t see no flames. I have not been very lucky this year, so I ran right out here. I figured my place was on fire,” said Steve Steffes, the owner of Las Chili’s.
The fire was two doors down. Steffes said he’s keeping a positive attitude.
“I could be really upset and down about it and say this is a real problem. But if you have great faith, you can turn a problem and call it an opportunity. That’s what we’re going to do, just say this is an opportunity,” Steffes said.
The owner of neighboring Breakfast and Lunch Lovers Restaurant had a similar mindset.
“I’m pretty optimistic about reopening,” said Marvin Duncan, the owner of the 4-year-old restaurant. “I don’t think we sustained as much damage as some of the other businesses did, which I thank God. And nobody got hurt, I thank God for that too.”
The mayor of Raytown, Mike McDonough, visited with impacted businesses Wednesday morning.
