Downtown merchant determined to re-open, rebuild after fire

Sept. 21--Nicholas Juache, owner of the ice cream shop and Juaritos & Alignment, a garage at 208 S. Main St., is determined to rebuild from the Aug. 23 fire that destroyed his businesses.

"I am glad no one got hurt," he said. "Everyone is still alive. We still have the main building open."

The fire started at about 6:30 p.m. Aug. 23 at Paleteria Juaritos, an ice cream shop at 214 S. Main St., and eventually spread north to an adjacent warehouse full of tires. The cause of the fire is still undetermined according to the Kansas Fire Marshal's Office.

Juache said Monday he is waiting to hear back from his insurance company, which took pictures of the damage and told him to get a list of his inventory ready.

He added that the ice cream shop will be rebuilt "for sure."

Juache, who opened his garage in 1999, has no plans to move. He said they are trying to squeeze in tires wherever they can since they don't have the warehouse, but he hopes to purchase the land so he can rebuild the warehouse.

"It's connected to the business," he said. "We will have to try to buy it."

Juache is quick to point out that the fire could have been much worse, and that no one was injured.

The cause of the fire is still being called undetermined by the Kansas State Fire Marshal's Office.

The Garden City Fire Department requested assistance with the investigation because the damaged warehouse is owned by Garden City Fire Chief Allen Shelton, according to Kansas Fire Marshall Public Information officer Kevin Doel.

Shelton declined to comment about the fire or the warehouse, but said it is in the hands of the insurance company.

The fire started behind the ice cream shop that was connected to a storage building to the north and another to the south that were both owned and rented properties of the tire shop, the fire marshal's office wrote Monday in a news release.

Doel said the fire remains under investigation.

When firefighters responded to the fire on Aug. 23, they found the warehouse engulfed in fire, with flames extending into the rear of the ice cream shop.

The fire marshal said the buildings were a complete loss, but did not have a dollar amount.

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