Early morning fire rips through Casa Delicias restaurant in Hesperia, leaving owners heartbroken

When Margarita Olvera first received the early-morning call that the alarm in her Hesperia restaurant had gone off, she said she was told that the warning was likely false.

Later, though, the company monitoring the Casa Delicias alarm system called back: Sensors were detecting hot spots in the building.

Olvera’s husband, Adrian, raced over to their eatery on Hesperia Road. There, he was met with a sight no business owner wants to see.

Smoke was pouring out of the decades-old Casa Delicias building, a beloved eatery that has been part of the family since the early 1980s. He could see flames in the front dining area where customers normally sat.

At the same time, firefighters were working to gain access to the building via a metal gate that covers the entrance. Adrian Olvera opened it and the crews went to work.

Before they finished, though, the fire gutted most of the restaurant known for its Mexican food and homemade tortillas, leaving its owners to pick up the pieces.

“When we got here it was just heartbreaking, even though we’re not materialistic and we know what matters is human life and family,” Margarita Olvera said. “But just to see your business that you work so hard for, dedicate your life to, literally up in smoke, you know?”

Firefighters were 'amazing'

First responders were called to the fire at 9436 Hesperia Road shortly before 4 a.m. Wednesday, San Bernardino County Fire Battalion Chief Mike McClintock said. He said several 911 callers reported seeing smoke coming from the restaurant.

McClintock said crews started attacking the fire from the inside and on the roof.

Margarita Olvera described a hectic scene of firefighters “swarming everywhere.”

“They were like nonstop. They were hustling,” she said. “Did they do their job? Yes they did. It was amazing.”

Crews knocked down the blaze in about 45 minutes, according to McClintock.

Margarita Olvera showed the Daily Press a back storage area that appeared to have been saved from flames by firefighters. Damage to the rest of the building, however, was extensive.

Kitchen equipment melted and refrigerators were charred as light shone in on the burned-out scene from holes in the Casa Delicias ceiling.

In the front seating area, broken windows left shattered glass on the floor. A light fixture dangled from the blackened and exposed roof.

As of Wednesday afternoon, county investigators were working to determine the cause of the fire, McClintock said.

'What are we going to eat now?'

Hector Sanchez, Margarita Olvera’s brother, said his parents opened Casa Delicias in 1981 and later passed it down to his sister and her husband.

He and others worked Wednesday afternoon to board up the building until insurance adjusters could come to inspect it.

Sanchez said many people had already reached out in concern after hearing about the blaze. Some had even pulled up to Casa Delicias in the hopes of ordering a meal since the building looked relatively undamaged from the outside.

“What are we going to eat now?” Sanchez recalled one family saying.

Margarita Olvera said the timing of the blaze was particularly unfortunate “because November and December are our only two busy months.”

“That’s when we get all our profit to survive the rest of the year,” she said.

Meanwhile, Margarita Olvera worried about who would feed her loyal customers.

She pulled out pieces of paper that had somehow survived: Order slips for burritos and items that Oak Hills High School and other schools had been expecting that morning.

“When you’ve been serving the community so long, it’s your M.O.,” she said.

Daily Press reporter Martin Estacio may be reached at 760-955-5358 or MEstacio@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_mestacio.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Early-morning fire rips through Casa Delicias restaurant in Hesperia, leaving owners heartbroken