Tacos El Sonorita lost to fire, looking to rebuild

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) –It’s been almost two weeks since a fire destroyed a warehouse that was home to Tacos El Sonorita in Bakersfield.

The owners still have no answers on what caused the fire.

Two brothers lost their entire business to a fire in just 10 minutes.

“We had three fridges, we had a sink,” says Juan De La Vara, as he explains what used to be his and his brother’s business, now unrecognizable after the fire.

Surveillance video from the business next door showed the moment the fire started.

A fire so intense, it even took a car with it and damaged a second one.

“It’s a warehouse we had here where we did everything,” said Jiovanny De La Vara. “We prepared all the veggies, everything we were going to sell.”

Their whole livelihood is gone.

“It’s affecting us in everything,” said Jiovanny De La Vara. “We don’t have a job, we’ve been going to the fields to get a bit of money.” Plus having to lay off a team of around 10 people.

The brothers are now struggling with debt.

“In this fridge, we had about 300, 400 pounds of meat,” said Juan De La Vara.

Around $5,000 in meat is gone.

The brothers estimate they’ve lost almost $150 thousand in equipment. Now rebuilding step by step.

You can help in their journey as they rebuild, find their GoFundMe here .

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