ST. MARY PARISH — An early Monday morning fire at Charming Nails, a nail salon in a Morgan City shopping center along Highway LA-182, caused smoke and water damage to multiple nearby businesses. While the flames were contained by a built-in firewall, the fire still affected surrounding stores, including Zo’Queenz and Company Salon and Boutique.
“My clients were the ones who were calling and telling me about it and what was going on and I didn’t think it was that bad until, I saw it on Facebook,” said Paulette Harris, owner of Zo’Queenz and Company Salon and Boutique.
Morgan City Fire Chief Alvin Cockerham said, “You had a firewall that stopped it, instead of being on one side, that’s one reason we were able to contain it.”
Although the firewall prevented the flames from spreading, smoke and water damaged nearby businesses, including Harris’ salon. “I am person that specializes in people that lost their hair to cancer…this is my only income that I have, this is how I make my living,” Harris said.
Both the Morgan City and Berwick Fire Departments responded to help contain the fire, which stopped right at Harris’ door. Pieces of plate glass from the original fire scene remain as a reminder of how close the flames came.
“These are all plate glass windows right here…see the sign above it is scorched? That was from the flame coming out,” Cockerham said.
Harris noted additional damage inside the salon. “This whole wall was full of jewelry, all of that got full of water, so I have to throw all that away, I’ll see if I can salvage some of it.” She added that the entire strip of businesses remains closed while owners work to clean up and recover from the fire.
Despite the damage, Harris said she feels fortunate the flames did not destroy her business. “You can’t tell me that’s not favor from God, so mostly I'm doing cleanup, this is my fifth mop, mopping to get it all up,” Harris said, referring to how the fire stopped at her door and spared the heart of her salon. She credits her faith and support from family and friends for helping her move forward after the fire.
