Business was just starting to pick up at Botanica Okalanque, a spiritual shop that opened on Main Street nine months ago.
But Tuesday afternoon a fire in the back offices of the shop damaged almost everything inside the small storefront.
“We just hit nine months yesterday and it was going really well,” said Marie Rodriguez, the owner of the shop, which sells spiritual items such as candles. “Everything’s damaged. They broke all the windows.”
Fire officials are still not sure how the fire started, and were investigating the cause as of about 3 p.m. Tuesday. No one was injured in the fire, which was reported at about 2:15 p.m. when a pedestrian smelled smoke.
The shop was empty at the time of the fire because Rodriguez works during the day and operates the store in the evening.
The shop sits on the first floor of the former Ansonia Opera House, along with the restaurant Crave, and stores Only For Her and Shelly’s Studio at 96 Main St.
The building, built in 1870, is one of the oldest downtown, according to Robert Novak, the executive director of the Derby Historical Society.
Fire chief Michael Eheman said the fire was contained to the two offices in the back of Botanica Okalanque, and didn’t breach the wall into the other shops. He said it appeared the opera house portion of the building was not damaged either.
As a precaution Tuesday afternoon, the other stores were evacuated while firefighters put down the fire.
A security gate was pulled down in Botanica Okalaque, Eheman said, which kept the smoke inside.
Before entering the building, firefighters busted through the front windows, and clouds of black smoke billowed out onto Main Street.
A crew also helped vent the back of the building, which was holding in smoke because of boarded-up windows, Eheman said. Volunteers from Ansonia and Derby fire departments responded to the scene.
“With the age of the building, and the condition of the upper floors of the building … It’s a huge open area in the second and third floors and we had to take a lot of precautions,” Eheman said.
Rodriguez said she wasn’t sure what could have caused the fire.
While she sells lots of candles, and said she burns them while the store is open, Rodriguez said she makes sure they are all out when she leaves for the night.
The following story was originally posted at 3:35 p.m.
Firefighters busted through the front windows of Botanica Okalaque Tuesday afternoon, as a fire burned in the back offices of the shop on Main Street.
No one was injured in the fire, which was reported about 2:15 p.m. by a pedestrian who saw smoke coming out of the building.
Firefighters said the fire was contained to the shop, and didn’t damage the vacant upstairs, which houses the old Ansonia Opera House.
