On a four-block stretch of West Argyle Street where neighbors are more likely to greet each other with a Vietnamese “chao” than with an English “hello,” the many markets and restaurants are cultural havens for the Southeast Asian families that dominate the neighborhood.
On Wednesday, many of those residents lined Argyle to gaze on the smoldering wreckage of two such neighborhood pillars, an herbal market and a grocery store at the heart of Chicago’s “Little Vietnam” that were burned beyond repair in an overnight fire.
As clean-up crews worked to shovel debris and board up shattered store windows, the two families that owned and worked daily at the stores sifted through the wreckage of businesses that had been in the family for decades.
“It was like another child to them. They had it for over 20 years,” said Jonathan Ly, 35, of his parents Kim and Ky Ly, who opened the Mien Hoa Market in 1984. “They’re pretty shaken up.”
Nestled next to the Argyle stop of the CTA Red Line, the businesses were two of four storefronts, also including a real estate agency and a Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant, severely damaged in the two-alarm blaze that broke out about 1 a.m. Wednesday. More than 120 firefighters fought the fire for three hours before it was controlled, fire officials said, and occasional flare-ups brought fire engines back to the scene throughout the day.
Vinh Dang, 52, whose family opened the Vinh Tho store in 1985 to sell herbal medicines, roots and tea, said he was notified of the fire in the middle of the night. But he was still unprepared for the extensive damage he witnessed when he arrived.
“It’s horrible, I didn’t expect to see the whole roof collapsed,” Dang said as he surveyed the charred scene from across Argyle Street on Wednesday afternoon. “I wouldn’t believe it until I saw it with my own eyes.”
City building inspectors told store owners Wednesday that the building would have to be demolished. Both the Dang and Ly families said Wednesday that they had insurance on their stores and hoped to rebuild, but wondered whether they could wait to return to their established place at the heart of the neighborhood.
“It’s probably going to be a long time,” Vinh Dang said. “We might have to look for a new location … . Even after they rebuild, it may not be the same anyway.”
