A fire that tore through H O Automotive in Stamford, CT, has left a decades-old family business in ruins, devastating its owners and the surrounding community.
The blaze broke out shortly after 5:30 p.m. June 4 on Dyke Lane. According to the Stamford Fire Department, around 50 firefighters responded to the scene. The fire ultimately caused the building’s roof to collapse and sent one employee to the hospital with minor burn injuries.
“There was four vehicles inside at the time of the fire,” said Stamford Deputy Fire Chief Matthew Palmer. “There was a lot of fuels. A lot of products that you commonly find both in auto body and auto repair, most of which are flammable.”
This marks the second fire at a Stamford auto body shop in just three months.
For the Ortiz family, who have run H O Automotive for 23 years, the fire is more than a financial loss. It’s the destruction of a dream.
“Just accepting like a loss… It's a little bit of a struggle, especially since I spent most of my days here,” Darlin Ortiz, who works alongside her father at the shop, told News 12 Connecticut.
“He was just like, ‘The shop's gone.’ In that moment, I was really sad and devastated,” said her sister, Daniella Ortiz. “It was just really upsetting to hear all his hard work [was] gone in an instant and I could hear the panic and the sadness in his voice.”
The family said the fire struck just as their father was preparing for retirement. Now, their future remains uncertain. “It's just really sad and I can't really explain how I felt in that moment, but I just know I was hurt, upset, like a little angry at the fire too,” Daniella added.
H O Automotive had long served the Stamford community, supporting not only the Ortiz family but others as well. In the wake of the fire, the family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to rebuild the business.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
