9 months after opening, Mexican restaurant in Kennewick is damaged by fire
A Kennewick cafe’s owners have promised to rebuild after a fire tore through their business Sunday night.
Firefighters were called to the Mis Raices Cafe at 2521 W. Kennewick Ave. about 7:40 p.m. Sunday after a fire started inside the building.
Th fire was under control within 15 minutes, said Fire Chief Chad Michael, but flames caused substantial damage to the kitchen and there were holes left in the roof after firefighters searched for remaining hot spots.
Kennewick Avenue was blocked off near Vista Way while firefighters worked at the scene. They were helped by crews from Benton County Fire District 1 and the Richland Fire Department.
Investigators are still trying to determine what started the blaze and where it began.
The Mexican cafe opened in January, replacing Eat Hot Tamales, the fresh tamale business that began in Pasco in 2017, moved to that Kennewick location and then to Richland.
Mis Raices was closed when the fire started and no one was inside at the time.
The owners posted in Spanish about the fire on Facebook and Instagram. The post showed an image of firefighters near the door while light smoke poured out.
In the message, the owners said they were grateful that only the property was damaged.
They didn’t know how long it would take before they could open again, but they hoped it would be soon.
Eat Hot Tamales, the fresh tamale business that began in Pasco in 2017 and later moved to Kennewick, has moved again.