OPA-LOCKA, Fla. — A once-thriving auto parts business in Opa-locka now sits in ruins after a fire tore through the area earlier this week.
“This place meant the world to us — income, our everything — now left stranded,” said Gary Lopez, manager of JC Motors and Gary Used Auto Parts.
The business has been in Lopez’s family for 30 years.
“This was devastating. It’s not two days, you know, it’s 30 years,” Lopez said. “My father started as an employee, worked his way up and eventually got the opportunity to buy it.”
The fire broke out Monday evening around 5 p.m. near Cairo Road and Northwest 131st Street, spreading across several businesses and destroying nearby establishments.
Days after the fire, Lopez remains focused on the people who helped build the business alongside him.
“Not only were they staff, the crew — that’s brotherhood, that’s family,” Lopez said.
Lopez is trying to support his employees by creating a GoFundMe page to help them get through the loss.
“They have families, they have kids, they have life going on. Life doesn’t stop,” Lopez said. “As long as we’re here, that’s all that matters.”
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