UPDATE:
In an interview, Victor Cao confirmed that he used the warehouse to store halloween costumes for his business, Fun F/X. He says he was in his office when the fire started, but has no idea how it happened.
“I suspect it started on the second floor but that’s all I can even guess right now,” Cao says. “By the time I heard it, it sounded like a wind that was outside blowing in so I don’t know if the air was getting sucked into the first floor and going to the fire.”
Cao and one of his employees, Norma Estrada say they were planning on opening a temporary store in another location. With all the merchandise destroyed, that will be impossible.
“It’s a good old building,” he says. “I put a lot of sweat and tears in it over the past 20 years and we had a lot of big plans. So, unfortunately, plans will change.”
Cao confirmed reports from the fire department that nobody in the building at the time was injured in the blaze.
PREVIOUS POST:
As of 5:45pm the building appears to have has collapsed.
ORIGINAL POST:
Late Friday afternoon South Bend fire crews responded to a huge fire at Fun FX near Chapin and Sample.
WVPE's Justin Hicks is on the scene where huge clouds of thick black smoke can be seen billowing from the building. As the cloud of smoke grows, fire crews are using aerial ladders to try and knock the blaze down.
Streets in the area are blocked.
An employee tells WVPE that the business planned to move to a different location next week.
WVPE will continue to update you on this breaking news story.
