KENNER, La.– The Kenner Fire Department battled an early morning fire around 5:30 this morning that broke out at Gendusa’s Italian Market in Kenner’s Rivertown neighborhood.
The fire took firefighters about 30 minutes to fight the fire, which didn’t affect any nearby buildings or injure anyone.
WGNO’s Kenny Lopez talked to Troy Gendusa, the owner of Gendusa’s Italian Market about witnessing the fire at his beloved business.
“Solid smoke. Solid smoke. All I can say is when they tell you not to go back into a burning building, don’t do it. I couldn’t see an inch in front of my face,” Gendusa said.
Gendusa said that the tried to to into the building to gather some personal stuff, but the fire spread so fast.
“We didn’t make it 15 feet, we had to come back. I just knew my business was gone,” he said.
A loss that truly hurts Troy who says he’s made many memories the past 5 and a half years that he’s been in business.
“The building is 117 years old, historic building. It was the first Post Office in Kenner,” he said.
Gendusa says he plans to rebuild and is figuring a way to do takeout right now for his loyal customers.
“Thinking about using a building nearby, a temporary thing for the next 6 months, while we rebuild. Doing a temporary kitchen in my party room, which would kind of eliminate my dining, but I’ll still be able to do takeout. This stupid fire has got me down right now, but I will be back,” he said.