UPDATE: New building for restaurant, fire suspicious

Stanton fire says fire is suspicious

February 1, 2022

Steve Rogers, Maddie McQueen,

UPDATE 10:55 A.M. FEBRUARY 1, 2022

STANTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Mi Finca owner Jessica Hernandez announced Tuesday the restaurant has found a new building to relocate to in Stanton.

Hernandez says the new building has the same square footage as the one that burned, but will need to be converted to a restaurant.

Hernandez says she is back in a 50/50 partnership with her old business partner, Manolo Hernandez, and the pair found the new building through the landlord from Mi Finca’s first Stanton location.

Stanton Fire says Monday, the state fire marshall came to Mi Finca and took samples for about three hours. Stanton Fire says it’s unsure when all findings will be available, but hopes to see initial findings in the next week.

According to Stanton Fire, the fire is considered suspicious.

UPDATE 7:30 P.M. JANUARY 30, 2022

STANTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Mi Finca has been in Stanton for nearly a decade.

“It was everything,” says owner Jessica Hernandez. “It’s a small town, everyone came to Mi Finca.”

Hernandez says the restaurant moved to the current building just under two years ago in April of 2020.

“We survived a pandemic, the town rallied around us and they did a lot of to-go orders, lot of takeout, so you know, to lose it like this is especially hard,” says Hernandez.

Many people on Facebook say Mi Finca was their favorite restaurant and are begging the owners to rebuild.

“That’s why we’re here,” says Hernandez. “It’s for the customers so if they want us back, we’re going to do our best to come back.”

Hernandez says Mi Finca wasn’t in a building originally designed to be a restaurant, but she hopes this gives it the chance going forward to make roots in a building that is designed for that.

“We were actually thinking we have a huge parking lot area and we’ve done a lot of live music, concerts, karaoke, we were thinking of maybe bringing in food trucks and putting in picnic tables just you know, in the meantime,” says Hernandez.

Stanton fire says no one was hurt in Sunday morning’s blaze but it took nearly three hours to get under control with help from Winchester fire, Clark County fire and Montgomery County fire. According to Stanton fire, the cause of the fire is still unknown and an arson investigator will be out Monday morning to take a look.

“I checked the cameras last night at 11:15, everyone was out, doors were locked, lights were off and that’s the last I saw of it,” says Hernandez.

Hernandez says her employees are like family to her and right now one of her main concern is making sure they’re taken care of.

“They’ve let us know that when we’re ready to reopen, they’re ready to come back,” says Hernandez.

ORIGINAL STORY

STANTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – An early-morning fire destroys a popular restaurant in Stanton. And it marked the second straight weekend the Stanton Fire Department had major fires.

According to fire officials, the Mi Finca Mexican restaurant on East Main was destroyed in a fire that was first reported just before 6 a.m. Sunday. It took firefighters three hours to get the blaze under control. As of 11:30 a.m.,

crews remained on the scene battling hot spots.

No injuries were reported, but the building is a total loss. Firefighters described the blaze as accidental although no official cause has been listed.

Last weekend, the department battled two major house fires within seven hours.

At about 12:15 a.m., fire crews arrived on scene and found heavy smoke and fire in the attic of a home. Stanton Fire along with Middlefork Fire made an “aggressive interior attack” extinguishing the fire, the department said. Clay City Fire provided water supply.

After salvage and overhaul operations were completed crews were cleaning up and Stanton Fire Engine 31 had become frozen in pump gear not allowing crews to leave until unfreezing. Crews cleared around 5 A.M.

At 7:30 a.m., fire crews found a blaze was burning throughout the house, including spreading to two vehicles, and threatening powerlines, according to the department. Hargett Fire provided mutual aid for manpower