Restaurant owner among those who lost everything in fire in N. Harris Co.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Little is left of multiple businesses destroyed by fire late Monday night in north Harris County.

The fire happened at about 11:13 p.m. at 12905 Veterans Memorial.

When firefighters from the Northwest Fire Department arrived, smoke was coming from a restaurant and the fire, which ultimately destroyed four businesses, was out of control.

The fire was so intense, the roof collapsed, officials said, adding that a firefighter was taken to the hospital and sustained minor injuries.

ABC13's Jeff Ehling talked to Desi Cafe owner Jay Chandar Bhatia, whose business was one of those that was lost.

Bhatia said he spent more than a decade building his business, but it disappeared in less than an hour.

When they left for the night about an hour before the fire, everything was fine, Bhatia said.

But later, he got a call from the alarm company.

"When we got here, we see the fire is going on, and it was a shocking thing for us," he said. "This is our life, family-owned business. We started from a food truck over here. It took us 12 years from the truck to over here, and we lost everything. Every single thing is gone. I have no idea what to do right now."

Four different fire departments responded to the fire. Along with Bhatia's restaurant, the building also housed a real estate office.

The two other businesses have smoke damage, and employees told ABC13 it will take a lot of cleaning up to get back to work.

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