Casa Sanchez Restaurant Heavily Damaged by Fire

Casa Sanchez owner Lencho Aguirre, left, and longtime friend Alessandro Ventura, examine damage caused by a fire that broke out at the popular Mexican eatery Thursday, Nov. 13. The flames erupted on the south side of the building at around 6:45 a.m. and were extinguished by a Long Beach Fire crew. No one was injured and the cause is under investigation. The kitchen and inside dining area were not damaged, just the south side of the structure near the restroom and storage room. With one employee present inside the kitchen early that morning, she heard a sound outside and then saw the flames, Aguirre said, who then rushed to the restaurant from his Orange County home. Friend Ventura, who also is a contractor, combed through the rubble Thursday evening and noticed the charred electric meter box, which appears to have melted from within. "It didn't catch fire from the outside," he said of the panel. "It caught fire from within. To me, this is an electrical fire." A fixture at Termino Avenue and Anaheim Street for decades, Casa Sanchez, with its traditional Sonoran-style Mexican food, will remain closed for now. Asked if he will rebuild, Aguirre, a man of faith, said, "Yes. When something happens in your life, it's for the better."