Fire that torched several businesses in Charlotte strip mall ruled arson

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A fire that damaged several businesses overnight in a strip mall on Independence Boulevard in southeast Charlotte has been ruled arson.

Dozens of firefighters were called around 11:15 p.m. to the shopping plaza near W.T. Harris Boulevard. They said the blaze started at the Budget truck rental business before quickly spreading to several other adjacent businesses.

The fire was so intense it burned through the business from the back to the front and torched nearly everything in sight.

It took 27 firefighters about 20 minutes to get the fire under control.

Channel 9 crews could see windows blown out and doors gone -- a black pile of rubble in front of the stores. Firefighters could be seen checking hot spots and assessing the damage.

Nobody was hurt.

Investigators later determined that the fire was intentionally set.

Channel 9 spoke with one business owner who opened her makeup studio next to the Budget in October. Stephanie Sarias was missing a package and just happened to check her security cameras on her phone when she saw plumes of smoke.

“I wanted to see through the clips of my cameras of the business record to see if I had something when I noticed that everything was white,” Sarias, owner of Sarias Studio, said. “I thought it was the camera being blurred or something, and I noticed it was actually smoke in the business. Within two minutes we were here. I believe it was God that just told me, ‘Look at your camera, something is happening.’”

She said she was devastated.

“I started crying from the minute I saw the smoke,” Sarias said. “I mean, this is my baby. I have put sweat and tears into it, and to not even have an idea of what’s left inside -- if it’s still left intact, if there’s nothing in there -- I mean, we don’t know yet because it’s not safe to go in there."

Business owners will be onsite throughout the day to see if anything is salvageable. Saria said some items in her store are salvageable.

“It’s so damaged, I don’t know how I’m going to pick up from this,” Saria said. “I don’t even know, I need to figure it out. I have no roof and it’s raining today too to have the cherry on top.”

Investigators said they don’t know yet how the fire started, only that it was intentionally set.

>> Check back with wsoctv.com for updates on this story.

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