Central Fresno business 'Browns Floral' destroyed by fire

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- "It takes 10 minutes for somebody to destroy something. It just kills me," said Donna Brown, owner of Brown's Floral.

Through tears, Brown shares what she lost when a fire tore through her Central Fresno business.

"All my antiques, my furniture that I used to decorate with. Everything was still in it," said Brown.

Firefighters rushed to the shop on Belmont and Teilman - just before 5 a.m. Sunday. They found flames shooting through the windows - along with suspicious circumstances.

"Further investigation found that one of the doors was left open when they were doing their 360 around, there is a door that was left open. That's not typical. The building should've been secured," said Battalion Chief Lupe Fernandez.

He said the fire did not reach the attic of the building.

But the flames destroyed the business Brown and her family built.

She recently switched to taking orders over the phone instead of having the floral shop open to the public because she's losing her eyesight. She says in the past, she often worked seven days a week to keep her business open.

Now, all she has are the memories of what once was a flourishing business.

"I think that's why I have lived as old as I am. And my customers, you know," said Brown.

A donation page has been set up to help with the clean-up and restoring of the business. If you'd like to help, you can click here.

For news updates, follow Vince Ybarra on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.