The Santa Maria location of Lassens Natural Foods and Vitamins suffered a horrific loss late Tuesday night, April 15th. The two-alarm fire at the store, located in the Plum Tree Plaza on S. Broadway was reported to have started in a corner of the attic.
With the roof visibly in danger of collapsing, firefighters were unable to fight it from above, or inside the structure, and were forced to fight the flames from outside the store instead. The southside roof did eventually collapse onto an interior refrigeration unit, making efforts to douse the fire very difficult. Smoke was still seen from one corner of the building at 10:30 A.M.
Preliminary investigation is that the fire appears to have been accidental in nature. According to Lassens’ Financial Controller, Amy Jones, “Unfortunately, this location was consumed by fire overnight. We are grateful there was no loss of life or injury. However, the store itself was completely lost.”
Fire crews from Santa Barbara County Fire Department, Cal Fire and the Five Cities Fire Department, along with an engine from the Pismo Beach Fire Department assisted the responding fire agency from Santa Maria.
Lassens headquarters sent a “no ship notice to Brokers and Vendors early Wednesday, and requested that no direct inquiries, regarding the fire, be made to their offices.
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