Cafe building destroyed in downtown Bedford fire

BEDFORD, Va. (WDBJ) - “If you ever got the feeling of someone had passed in your family, had died, that’s the way I felt. Because this is my baby, had it 10 years, built it from the ground up,” said Helen Walters, owner of Sister to Sister Custom Catering and Café.

Sister to Sister Custom Catering and Café was destroyed and Peace of Mind Property Services next door was damaged by a fire in Bedford County Friday.

Bedford County Fire and Rescue crews saw smoke in the air, which alerted them to the building just before 11 a.m.

“They headed downtown and pulled up and seen a two-story wood frame commercial building with heavy fire blowing out the front of it,” said Todd Stone, the Fire Chief in Bedford.

They got the fire under control within 45 minutes and are happy there were no injuries and that this didn’t happen in the middle of the night.

“If this would have been two or three in the morning. It could have been devastating. We would have lost maybe three, four, maybe five buildings,” said Stone.

Though Walters said she’s devastated about what happened, she’s thankful for the support she’s gotten.

“I love this community. That love came back today to me with the response,” said Walters.

“There’s no question that anybody that unlocks their business door downtown on a daily basis are going to be there for whatever she needs,” said Jim Messier, president of Arthur’s Jewelry.

No injuries have been reported and no cause determined for the fire, which was reported late Friday morning. The cafe is closed Fridays, so no one was there.

Firefighters say the building is unstable and planned to be there late into Friday night to make sure the fire doesn’t rekindle.

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