It was a large blaze in the alleyway behind Toritos Grocery Store on the 3200 block of Alameda. Those who work there each and every day say police are well aware of the homeless who set fires to keep warm in this alley, but they have not done enough to keep something like the fire from happening.
There was $60,000 dollars in damage, and it took 14 fire units close to an hour to get the blaze under control. Fire officials said it's the third fire in the alley caused by transients in recent weeks. Nancy Luna works at Ciros Restaurant next door, and said the homeless are always there.
"They need to put pressure on the homeless for police to come and tell them not to stay there, it is not a house, a place to stay," said Luna.
And the sister of the man who owns Toritos said the homeless are a huge problem, and the police do not do enough.
"They kick 'em out, they go around the alley, two or three times and then they come back," said Maira Isela Reza.
She said the homeless have made the alleyway their home.
"Mattress, couches, benches, whatever they find, that's their house, hotel, and whatever," said Reza.
And Reza said she feels helpless without support from the city.
"We cannot do anything about it, what can we do. They need more housing, the government needs to help them a little bit more to have a place to stay, we won't have this kind of problems," said Reza.
She also said her brother's business cannot open.
"And the grocery store doesn't have no gas, no water, no electric, for right now, because everything got burnt," said Reza.
And Luna, still busy working during the lunch hour, is worried how Toritos Grocery store will make it through this latest setback.
"They are going to be losing a lot of money, and they have to pay bills and rent, and it's really affecting the people who work here, our neighbor," said Luna.
One woman who works at Toritos said they hope to open up by Monday, but is not sure if that will be possible.
A City-County Health and Environmental District inspector came by Toritos, and in one of the documents he left, it said the grocery store had to pay $300 for the fire investigator. KFOX contacted the El Paso Fire Department, and they said they do not charge for a fire investigation, and the payment must be for something else.
Phone calls to the inspector himself and media relations with the Health District have gone unanswered.
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