LENOIR, N.C. — It's not easy for Antonio Rico Diaz to walk through his building in Lenoir.


What You Need To Know

  • An explosion happened last week at a restaurant in Lenoir

  • The owner says a gas leak may have been the cause

  • They need the community's help after losing so much

Walls are covered in soot, and doors are burned. Everything he worked for the past eight years is gone.

"The fire started in the back in the corner, and it came all the way," Diaz said.

His food truck, Taqueria El Tio Rico, in front of the building is still there. Inside the building was a place for people to sit, and it also housed the kitchen, storage and even a small store that sold Honduran food.

"A lot of years working for one time all gone. Everything. It's real bad," Diaz said.

As he looks around all he can say is his heart hurts. He said last week his wife was standing inside the building mixing stuff to make flower tortillas. He had just left Walmart, and when she called he told her to get out.

"She was looking in the back, the door was glass when she looked and saw fire," Diaz said.

He said he had just filled five propane tanks that day and believes a gas leak is the cause. The storage area where the explosion happened is destroyed along with his wife's car.

"Maybe $100,000 for everything, food, refrigerator, freezer, everything you know," Diaz said.

He said he had just stocked the store with $1,200 worth of product the same day of the fire. He said he appreciates the support from the community, but said they need help more than ever as they work to rebuild what they lost that day from a fire that took so much.

To help rebuild, click here.

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