ST. LOUIS — One firefighter was injured and another treated for heat exhaustion while fighting a fire at a deli in south St. Louis.
Around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, the St. Louis Fire Department responded to the 4700 block of Macklind Avenue for reports of a commercial fire. Upon arrival, firefighters found the Macklind Avenue Deli was engulfed in flames; firefighters later upgraded its severity to a second-alarm fire.
One firefighter was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and another was evaluated and released for heat exhaustion.
All day Thursday, loyal customers came by to put their faces in the window to see the damage.
"I feel like this community -- whenever there's something that might happen -- I feel like we always come together,” Sophia Hilmes said.
"It really feels like Macklind is Main Street of our small little town that's in the city,” Todd Brutcher, a bartender at Copper Pig, said.
"We're gonna do whatever we can,” he said. "The sense of community is pretty deep here. It's just a special place,” he said.
A GoFundMe page was set up Thursday morning to help offset the cost of the rebuilding efforts.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
