A large fire broke out at a building at Lake Chabot Public Market in Castro Valley early Thursday morning, destroying it.
The building at Lake Chabot Road and Quail Avenue is home to a butcher shop, a coffee shop and several food court-style restaurants, but the blaze, which began about 2:30 a.m., shot through the roof.
Three alarms were sounded before firefighters were able to put out the blaze, which caused the roof of the facility to collapse, according to the Alameda County Fire Department.
Hans Cho, who runs the Lake Chabot Public Market with his family, said next year would have been the public market’s 10th anniversary.
“My neighbor called me at 5am this morning and asked me if I heard the news. I said, ‘What news?’ and he said, ‘Your market is on fire,'” Cho told CBS News Bay Area.
“From day one, we’ve always wanted to be rooted in the community and serve the community, so when you think about it, it’s very hard to accept and hard to comprehend. And of course, there are a lot of thoughts going through my head about what the next steps are,” Cho continued.
Pokémon Go owner Suki Lin has had a store at Lake Chabot Public Market for nine months and said sales were slow at the start of the year, but she’s hopeful sales will pick up in the coming days.
“Today would have been nice. It’s sunny and hot today. The market would have been bustling. But it wasn’t. It’s a busy day, but I’m working inside the store so it’s not busy,” she said. “I’m so angry. I don’t know what to do. This is my job.”
Lin, who also owns a Pokémon Go store in Lafayette, said he moved to the public market nine months ago so he could be closer to his family, who live a three-minute drive away.
“A lot of our customers have been asking if we’re selling Dole Whip,” she said, “so last night we bought signs and printed them up and said, ‘Dole Whip is back,’ and we were going to bring them in this morning and put the signs up… I’m so sorry to Hans and his family. I’m so sorry to all our distributors. I’ll be meeting with everyone in the morning and speaking to them. Everyone is very upset and very saddened.”
The destruction has left many in the Castro Valley area heartbroken, including the first responders who put out the fire.
“We grew up here in Castro Valley with our families so we’re very close friends,” said Battalion Chief Justin Hoglund with the Alameda County Fire Department. “Mama Cho’s. All the firefighters eat here. All the police officers eat here. This is a pillar of the community so it’s really sad.”
Carmel Ledyard, who lives near the public market, said she is hopeful the Cho family will be able to rebuild or return in some capacity.
“It’s a personal loss for all of us, it really is,” she said. “It’s very sad for the owners, the people and all of us. We really feel it.”
No other buildings in the area were at risk, according to the fire department.
The cause of the fire has not yet been announced. No injuries were reported.
Crews from the Alameda and Hayward Fire Departments also battled the blaze, which is believed to have started in the kitchen of a food vendor inside the building.
Alameda County Fire Department said more than 50 firefighters responded to the blaze. Fire officials initially reported that staff at Chabot Elementary School evacuated students and staff until all blazes were contained. Late Thursday morning, school officials decided to cancel classes due to road closures in the area.
Crews will work in shifts throughout the day and night to ensure all hot spots are eliminated.
Kevin Ko contributed to this report.
