(Remsen) — Remsen’s only grocery store, Farm Fresh Foodtown and Liquor, formerly known as Majeres, was destroyed from an early morning fire Sunday morning. The fire was first reported at around 4:15 a.m. Five different fire departments from Remsen, Oyens, Marcus, Granville, and Le Mars all
responded to the blaze. 9-year old Samuel Gerrietts was delivering newspapers on his paper route, and was one of the first witnesses to see the community grocery store on fire.
Firefighters were on the scene for nearly five hours. Remsen Assistant Fire Chief Mark Gaskill says smoke could be seen coming from the building when they had arrived on scene.
The Remsen Assistant Fire Chief says unfortunately, the building and its contents would be considered as a total loss.
Gaskill believes the fire at the community grocery store may have been burning for perhaps a half an hour before it was reported.
The owner of Farm Fresh Foodtown and Liquor, Sammy Chodha, says he plans to rebuild so Remsen can still have a community grocery store.
Chodha says he has already made contacts to renovate the grocery store.
Gaskill says after fire officials were able to investigate the fire, they determined the cause of the blaze was electrial in origin.
