VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Days after a three-alarm fire destroyed three Oceanfront businesses, people are still picking up the pieces.
Maple Tree Pancake House, the T-Shirt Factory and King of the Sea are a total loss.
While the flames ripped through the two restaurants and souvenir shop, another business owner watched in shock.
"I sprinted here and watched the next eight hours of firefighting," said Colin Smith.
Smith owns Lyfestyle Meals, which backs up to King of the Sea.
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"That was the most agonizing part, understanding that there’s nothing that you can control," Smith said.
When the sun rose Wednesday morning, Smith realized his shop stood virtually unscathed.
"We had the burn on the backside of the building that affected the owner’s office, but us down here, there was no damage to the inside of the building," he said.
It’s unclear exactly where the fire started, but firefighters said they saw smoke coming from the T-Shirt Factory when they arrived.
The Virginia Beach Fire Department still has not determined the cause of the fire, but they are now saying it was accidental.
Now, Servpro crews are working to clear off the sidewalk and the trolley lane. They're pushing the debris back to try to get Atlantic Avenue at least somewhat back to normal.
That is exactly what Smith is trying to do with Lyfestyle Meals. He said they're reopening this weekend.
"In exciting news, we’re going to be able to reopen and we have all of the amenities we need through restoration of the power, restoration of gas," he said.
He said now, they want to tell the 75 firefighters who responded, thank you.
"We want to be able to donate to the local fire departments once we get fully operational. We did some of that today," said Smith. "I just want to thank them and give them my gratitude because without them, we wouldn’t be here."