‘You could feel the smoke’: Neighbors react to fire in Richmond’s Northside damaging multiple businesses

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A fire tore through multiple businesses of a commercial building in Richmond’s Northside early Sunday morning, leaving neighbors in shock.

“Yesterday, in the early morning, this area was full of smoke,” said Ines Santiago of Richmond as she described the events of Sunday, Oct. 27 to 8News.

Santiago said she’s lived in the home steps away from Sunday’s incident for no more than six months — and she was in fear when she woke up to the flames.

“A little bit of smoke came into the house — you could feel the smoke,” Santiago said.

Richmond Fire Department officials said crews were dispatched to 1809 Third Avenue for a report of a building fire at around 2:06 a.m. that morning.

When crews arrived at the scene, they saw the fire burning at 1401 Chestnut Street — impacting businesses at 1401-1409 Chestnut Street. It took crews more than four hours to contain the fire.

Those in the area told 8News that the affected businesses were a community staple.

“This [is] probably the best place for people to come — I mean, you get to relax. You relax, you come and have a good time,” said Samuel Burton of Richmond. “They talk to you. They give you good prices. They got everything in there.”

The businesses impacted include Chestnut Tobacco and Vape, which operated both a vape shop and a convenience store. Those owners were also in the process of opening a wing shop. All three of these storefronts were among those damaged by the fire.

“[If] kids, [are] short [with money] which, you know, they just [say] go ahead and grab it instead of them having trouble, [or] resort to other things and stealing,” said Qadir of Richmond, who wished to only go by his first name, referring to the convenience store.

Qadir added that he believes the community should come together and give some of that kindness back, following this tragedy.

“People should come — whether it’s cleaning stuff off the street, painting … come together and get this building back up and running, Qadir said.

The cause of the fire remains unknown, along with the extent of the damages.

This is a developing story, stick with 8News both on-air and online for the latest developments.

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