Good Samaritan saves Fresno restaurant from burning down after arson attack

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Patricia Escovedo had the worst kind of deja vu when she saw her restaurant potentially going up in flames again.

On Monday night a remorseless vandal tried to light the outdoor tents on fire at The Train Depot Restaurant in central Fresno.

"You see him walk down the sidewalk and whatever he had in his mouth, I don't think it was a lighter, it had been in his mouth and he walks over and he just sets it on fire," she said.

But while one passerby tried to destroy, another tried to save.

A woman passing by started stomping on the fire with her flip flops on, then called to a nearby liquor store owner who brought a fire extinguisher, buying precious time until firefighters arrived.

Escovedo's relief is overwhelming especially because her original location, at First and McKinley, burned down 8 years ago when a nearby laundromat caught fire.

This close call brought a rush of memories.

"To get there and have to clean up the fire and get that in my hands and my nails and smell the smell that we lost everything 8 years ago, it was very devastating," she said.

Now Escovedo just wants to find the good samaritan who saved her restaurant from repeating a horrible history, offering gratitude and a good meal.

"I would love to buy her breakfast and just thank her," she said.