Armand Daiguillon got an urgent phone call Wednesday morning that the restaurant next door to his movie theater was on fire.
“Very scary morning,” Daiguillon said.
He owns Gateway Theater on East Sunrise Boulevard next door to Wilton Wings in Fort Lauderdale, where officials say a fire broke out just before 9 a.m.
“This is my entire livelihood,” he said. “This is my whole business. This is everything I have, really.”
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The smoke spread quickly to the theater and restaurant next door, but Daiguillon said there’s no major damage.
“We did get smoke damage and of course when they put out the fire, there’s a lot of water,” he said. “So, we do have some water issues in the building right now.”
Investigators say no one was hurt.
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The cause of the fire is still unknown.
“It was early in the morning so thankfully, not a lot of people working or in the buildings yet,” said Battalion Chief Greg May with Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue.
“We evacuated the building on arrival, make sure everyone was out safely.”
For now, Daiguillon says he’s focused on the big picture and trying to stay positive.
“I think we’ll be okay,” Daiguillon said. “It’ll just take a little more time.”
The business owner says it’ll be at least a week before his theater can reopen.
