DOVER, Florida — One person is dead after a store went up in flames Sunday evening in Dover, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue said in a news release.
Fire Rescue received calls about the two-alarm fire around 4:45 p.m., crews said. Arriving firefighters battled the blaze at the Dover Mexican Market on Sydney Dover Road from outside before entering the store.
Officials say they found an employee at the store, 24-year-old Ramiro Isaac, who reportedly died at the scene. No first responders were injured, according to Fire Rescue.
“Our family was very sad when they just heard the news,” said Felipe Mardoquero, Isaac’s brother. “I saw him yesterday."
Mardoquero says he came to the United States just six weeks ago to join his brother, who had been working at the market for about three years.
It was just the two of them and a cousin, he said. All here to make a better life for their family.
“They haven't told us anything about the investigation,” said Mardoquero. “His boss told me that he would take care of everything from here. And they haven't told us anything about what happened.”
Mardoquero described Isaac as someone fun to be around, often cracking jokes.
His family is now trying to put together enough money to send his body back to Guatemala, where relatives are devastated to hear what's happened.
“Our family always wanted us to come here and achieve our dreams. And that's no longer going to be possible,” Mardoquero said. “He came here with lots of dreams. And now he's gone.”
The medical examiner’s office was conducting an autopsy on Isaac, but at this point, investigators had no reason to believe that his death was anything other than a tragic accident.