DETROIT (WXYZ) — The Detroit Fire Department has confirmed that one person is in custody following a fire at the E&L Supermercado in Detroit early Monday morning.
Watch Whitney Burney's video report:
Detroit firefighters were called to the scene of shopping carts on fire outside the E&L Supermercado around 7:45 a.m. When crews arrived, the fire had already spread to the front of the building, officials say.
The fire caused damage to the popular Mexican grocery store.
See chopper video over the fire at E&L Supermercado in the player below
Officials said video helped Detroit police locate a suspect they believe is responsible for the fire.
"It’s sad that somebody would do this in the neighborhood. This is our neighborhood," said longtime neighbor Josefina. "My mom and dad used to shop here."
Josefina says she was planning to visit the store Monday and grab her weekly groceries. She says she could instead hear fire engines zooming past her neighborhood en route to the blaze.
"I’m like what in the world is all that noise? Because you could hear the fire department or ambulance come by. Then I heard one, two, three and I said oh this is something close," she described. "They're going to lose big money every day that they’re closed. So, I hope they’re able to recoup as quickly as they can."
Alma Ortiz works at Hacienda Mexican Foods directly in front of the supermarket. She says she and her crew started working to make flour tortillas at 5 a.m. when the fire broke out.
"It was around 7:50 a.m. when I actually got a call from someone and they thought our building was on fire and that’s when we came outside and we seen the whole area of the buggies on fire," said Ortiz. "All the flames were coming towards us. We could feel the heat inside the facility. Inside the facility, was filled with the smoke fire."
Ortiz says the flour tortillas she makes daily are sold in E&L.
"This is such a big market for southwest. I mean it’s affordable, the meat prices. Everybody around the area from southwest comes here. This has been a third generation store around this area so we also actually distribute our products here so it’s a loss for us too," Ortiz added.
Detroit's Fire Investigation Division and ATF are currently investigating. The suspect is now set to face charges in the coming days.
"You never know people’s intentions. It’s just sad that people can have the mentality to do something so despicable, something so awful," said Alma Ortiz.
While there are a lot of repairs still ahead, the E &L owners say they're hopeful to be back open and running in a few weeks.
“It's a staple for the neighborhood. A lot of people shopped there, including the fire department,” said Detroit Fire Department Battalion Chief Samuel Vazquez. “It's a sad thing, but at least nobody was injured.”
Vazquez said the fire was knocked down within minutes.
Stay with WXYZ.com for updates on this developing story.
