By Jon Chown
A structure fire Monday night in Capitola Village claimed the life of one man and has forced the closure of two beloved business: Mijo’s Taqueria and Geisha Japanese Restaurant and Tea House.
According to Central Fire District of Santa Cruz County the fire was reported around 9:50 p.m. The first-arriving unit reported fire on the first and second stories of a large apartment complex at 204 Monterey Ave., with flames extending into the neighboring two-story commercial structure. Due to the complexity of the incident and the need for additional resources, the response was upgraded to a two-alarm fire.
Capitola resident Eli Strickler woke up Monday night to see the buildings across the street on fire.
That’s when Eli Strickler, who lives across street on the second floor, woke to see the building across the street on fire. “My whole place was lit up with lights and I was like ‘what’s going on?’ And I looked outside and oh! It’s a fire!”
Nina (last name withheld by request), who lives near the fire, said she was on the pier when she saw the flames. “I thought, ‘Oh s__t! Did I leave the stove on?’ I ran home. The whole town was full of smoke.”
“My whole place was full of smoke,” said Strickland. “Everything still smells like smoke.”
A total of 21 firefighting vehicles from five different agencies, along with three ambulances responded to the incident. Personnel from Santa Cruz City Fire, Watsonville City Fire, Scotts Valley Fire District, CAL FIRE, Felton Fire District, American Medical Response, Capitola Police Department, and PG&E all assisted Central Fire during the incident.
During the search, one person was found, extricated from the structure, and transported to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead. A second person was treated at the scene and did not require further care. One of the firefighters also sustained a minor injury and was treated on scene.
Strickler said he saw fire trucks lined up all the way up Monterey Avenue as far as he could see.
“They had the entire street closed down. I was watching out my window. They went at it. They pulled some guy out of there. I saw him being carted across the street right in front of my house badly burned. I think he was probably dead,” Strickler said.
In addition to the loss of life is the loss of the local businesses.
“It’s too bad,” said Nina. “Geisha will be closed, Mijo’s will be closed. What a bummer!”
Anthony Guajardo, owner of Mijo’s, was standing outside his restaurant Tuesday morning watching firefighters clean up.
Firefighters clean up and look for clues Tuesday morning at the site of a structure fire in Capitola Village.
“I’m waiting for the building department to give us some clearances and tell us what’s going on, and the planning department to let us know what needs to be fixed, and for our insurance company to come and assess the damage,” he said.
He said around 9:45 p.m. Monday he got a call that the building was partially on fire. “It started in the building next door and the fire in the attic went into the sushi restaurant. We don’t know what kind of damage yet until we get inside. But we are assuming it’s water damage, smoke damage … just hopefully not too much.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Damage estimates are not yet available.
TOP PHOTO: A fire in Capitola Village took the life of one man and closed two businesses.