DENVER — After the second fire in less than six months, the co-owner of Refillanthropy on South Broadway said they do not plan to reopen.
The fire burned the inside of the store and left behind a lot of water and smoke damage. Around 2:30 a.m., surveillance video shows a man walking to the front of the building, light a match, kneel and walk away before the fire was reported.
Last week, the Denver Fire Department responded to a report of a commercial building fire near South Broadway and East Bayaud Avenue on Tuesday morning. That's just north of East Alameda Avenue. When firefighters arrived to the business, they saw fire and smoke coming from the first floor of the building, according to Denver Fire.
"This is a really devastating loss," said Vesper Holly Muck, co-owner of Refillanthropy.
“Last week with the fire and everything, all my inventory is pretty much gone," Holly Muck said. "Anything that wasn’t damaged by the fire itself was water-damaged or smoke-damaged.”
In February, the door of the business caught fire.
“The first one was in February, and that one, our door caught fire because there was an unhoused person that was sleeping in the doorway and they had set a fire," Holly Muck said. "It was very cold that night, so they set a fire to keep warm."
Holly Muck and her business partner have spoken to other business owners along South Broadway who have expressed their frustration over the unhoused, vandalism and drug use in that area.
“It's been a disaster, so watching that video footage – part of me was like cool, we have an explanation, but another part of me is so devastated that we were just targeted," Holly Muck said. "Why is this random act affecting me as a small-business owner, someone who has taken part of retirement savings to start this business?"
Holly Muck hopes to come back doing pop-up shops in the future. To help with recover from the fire, the business started a GoFundMe page.
Last week's fire is being investigated by the Denver Fire Department's arson unit.
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