Shopping cart fire closes down businesses as owners look for a way forward

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Several businesses at a strip mall on Tropicana and Pecos have been forced to shut down after an outside fire knocked out electrical service to their strip mall. Those business owners are waiting on repairs to be made before they can open their doors again, but in the meantime, their businesses have been tagged as “unsafe for occupancy” by Clark County.

Clark County Fire confirmed a shopping cart next to the strip mall’s electrical boxes caught fire early Saturday afternoon.

“There was a group of individuals who had their carts back there, and they set fire to their carts, which were a little too close to the electrical boxes,” Lucino’s Pizza co-owner Joey Scolaro recalled.

Scolaro’s business is one of seven that’s been closed down.

“This is actually our third time having to do this,” Jonny Galvez, owner of Familia Tattoos in the same strip mall, told FOX5. “In a year of being a tenant here, I’ve only been open for about five months.”

Galvez is getting frustrated by his lack of momentum in gaining a customer base after floods caused him to shut down for a while shortly after opening last year.

“It seems every about three to four months, right when I start to build my revenue and getting my clientele back, we end up getting closed down again,” he lamented.

Both Galvez and Scolaro are worried about how this closure will affect future business.

“That red sign – it can be an opinion-maker real quick,” Scolaro said, referencing the sign Clark County put on the front door of his business. “If you don’t know the full facts of it, your restaurant could be tainted.”

“I just dumped my livelihood to open this studio, and now I don’t know if it’s going to be standing or if it’s going to be closed,” Galvez echoed.

They both told FOX5 this incident is giving them pause about continuing their businesses at this location.

“I want to try to move forward and break the lease,” Galvez said. “Hopefully I can grow my business somewhere else.”

“We don’t know when we’re going to be able to kind of get back up and running and be able to be Lucino’s Pizza again, or if it’s going to be in this location,” Scolaro added.

Lucino’s Pizza has missed hundreds of calls the last few days, Scolaro says, and about as many messages on social media too, asking when the shop will reopen. He said he was told repairs will take months.

Clark County tells FOX5 the building’s owner has a contractor to perform the repairs, but the county is still waiting on a permit application.

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