New surveillance video captured the moment arsonists targeted an eyelash business in Kendall, completely engulfing the storefront in flames.
The incident happened early Thursday morning at ‘The Grand Lash House’ on the corner of Bird Road and SW 97th Avenue in Kendall.
The video revealed key moments before the fire, showing two men inspecting the premises and then returning with a rock to break the glass.
The store's owner, Indira Ortega, told NBC6 they then threw gasoline on the building and set it on fire -- completely destroying everything she had worked so hard to build.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
Ortega said she planned to hold the store’s grand opening on May 5th, but now it’s boarded up because of the setback.
“The damage was really, really bad,” said Ortega. “The ceiling was down, the floor was all burned, the water was under the tiles so everything was messed up.”
Ortega told NBC6 her husband’s former coworker spotted the flames in the middle of the night and called the pair to rush over.
Local
“I’m a good person,” said Ortega. “I don’t have enemies, I don’t do bad things to anybody, so I don’t know why they did this.”
According to Ortega the fire caused about $45,000 in damages.
Video showed how the flames quickly spread through the business before the suspects rode off on the scooter.
Despite the disaster, Ortega says she will not give up on her plans to open the business.
By the time she arrived at the business, firefighters had already put out the blaze.
"I have my clues of who did this, but it is something that is under investigation," Ortega said. "We can't say anything, but yes. We have someone who is the potential person who did this to this business."
Ortega is now faced with a large financial burden while trying to rebuild and is now turning to the community for help through GoFundMe.
Miami-Dade police are investigating.
