Several businesses were severely damaged by a fire Monday night at the Diamond B Mall in Horseshoe Bend. Mayor Duane DeLair said the call came in between 5 and 6 p.m. Sept. 8. He said crews battled the fire all the way into Tuesday morning.
Several businesses were a total loss. โWe had a lot of businesses in here that kind of lost everything,โ DeLair said, โItโs a sad day because we lost a lot of businesses that were the lifeblood of this town.” Residents like Kristie Brewer are still trying to process the devastation. She was playing golf when she smelled and saw the smoke. She said that the shopping center meant everything to the community.
โThis building was built in the 70s. Itโs been the grocery store, itโs provided so many things. It is the epicenter of our community,โ Brewer said. A restaurant, hair salons, a tanning salon, a boutique, and the townโs only grocery store were all affected by the fire.
โI think where everybody is with it is because they donโt know what to do now. Thereโs so many things that we know are to come, and weโre a little bit afraid of how devastating itโs going to be,โ Brewer said. Brewer and DeLair say people are already coming together, not only for the business owners, but also for those who depend on the businesses. โThereโs different organizations like the city and the boat club, thereโs different things going on,โ Brewer said. โPeople are starting to gather together and realize the need, so itโs yet to be seen what exactly is done, but the community is strong, we love each other, and weโre going to figure it out.โ
โAt city hall, weโve started a donation jar, and what weโre going to do is take that money, and itโs going to be split between the shop owners that had a loss here,โ DeLair said. At this time, the cause of the fire is still uncertain. No injuries were reported.
