VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Forty-eight hours after a massive fire tore through three businesses on Atlantic Avenue at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, debris and rubble now sit on that lot.
The Maple Tree Pancake House, the T-Shirt Factory store, and the King of the Sea restaurant are all gone. Now, the owners are left having to clean up the mess and potentially find the strength to rebuild.
Just 10 minutes down the road on General Booth Boulevard, the owner of Custom Home Improvement and Repairs of Hampton Roads, Tim Zweizig, heard about the news.
"It kind of really hit home for us," Zweizig said, as he stood in front of his business.
The long-time business owner knows the pain of getting that call in the middle of the night.
On July 22, 2020, a neighboring business caught fire, ripping through multiple units. One of those was Custom Home Improvement and Repairs. A family-run business, Zweizig was devastated for both his family and the rest of his employees he considers just as close.
"We had to recover somehow," Zweizig said, thinking back on the painful memories.
It took Zweizig and his team an entire year to rebuild from the ground up. Nearly everyone on his team stuck through the difficult journey with him to come back and work again better than ever.
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Zweizig knows after experiencing this struggle personally that the owners of the three Oceanfront businesses have a long way to go, but he said they should not give up on the idea of rebuilding.
"It's a chance to come back bigger, better, and stronger and while it's a long journey, it is worth it in the end," Zweizig said.
He explained the process to rebuild. Zweizig said once the shock of the original incident settles in and reality is set ahead, you just need to put one foot in front of the other by taking the process in stages.
"Clean up would obviously be the first order of business and it's up to the owners to get bids for that," Zweizig explained. "You really have to pinch pennies, because usually insurance policies in cases like these are going to be max policies."
When Zweizig faced the reality of having to rebuild all of his hard work in 2020, he knew he couldn't do it alone. He said the community is what will help these businesses get through those difficult, final steps.
"You can't try to tackle this yourself. We even had friendly competitors reach out to us, other home improvement companies, and some from Northern VA reaching out, so I hope businesses do the same for them, as well," Zweizig said.
The owners of the Maple Tree Pancake House told 13News Now they hope to rebuild their business to continue their legacy as a breakfast staple, but they still need more information from their insurance company. The owners of the T-Shirt Factory said they hope to rebuild and reopen by next year.
The owners of the King of the Sea restaurant declined to speak with 13News Now at the scene.
Virginia Beach fire investigators tell 13News Now while they saw smoke coming from the T-Shirt Factory, they are still investigating exactly where the fire started and what caused it.