RICHMOND, Va. — A Shockoe Bottom restaurant owner says he’s still in disbelief after watching his business be destroyed in real-time last week during a massive fire. Lance Nelson, owner of The Daily Menu, was out of town when he got the call Wednesday that flames were engulfing the building that houses his restaurant. Unable to return immediately, he turned to his security cameras and watched as smoke poured in and the ceiling collapsed under the weight of water being pumped in by firefighters battling the blaze in the apartments above.
“It’s much like looking at your child in the ocean, and you can’t get out there to save them,” Nelson said. “All the work I put in here, gone in one day.”
The Richmond Fire Department is still working to determine what sparked the fire, which left multiple businesses severely damaged. Officials have since deemed the building unsafe to enter, forcing tenants, including The Daily Menu to close indefinitely…