Magnolia Avenue bar helps families affected by July 4 Fort Worth house fire
One of the owners of a Magnolia Avenue bar helped residents and their pets escape after two homes caught fire on 7th Avenue the night of July Fourth. Now employees of the business, Sakura Lounge, are organizing a fundraiser for the affected residents.
Fort Worth firefighters responded to multiple calls regarding a fire in the 1200 block of 7th Avenue on Saturday night, according to a Fire Department spokesperson.
When firefighters arrived at the scene, they found “heavy fire from a residence and several structures,” the spokesperson said.
Firefighters treated one person for smoke inhalation on the scene.
Dylan Lutje, one of the owners and managing partners at Sakura Lounge, which is across the street at 1504 W. Magnolia Ave., said that he helped residents and their pets get out of the burning homes.
“It was kind of just a natural instinct of wanting to help,” Lutje said.
He said employees opened up the bar for residents to take shelter while the Fort Worth Fire Department worked on the scene.
“We closed our doors for the majority of the evening so those affected had a safe place to gather and focus on what mattered most,” Sakura Lounge wrote on Facebook. “A heartfelt thank you to the Fort Worth Fire Department and all of the first responders who arrived so quickly and handled this emergency with professionalism, courage, and compassion.”
Lutje said that the fire victims’ GoFundMe and Venmo has been shared in the comments of a post on Sakura Lounge’s Facebook page, and that this weekend on July 10 and 11, the bar will have a silent auction.
They will be auctioning off items from local businesses as well as donating a portion of their sales to the affected residents. Anyone who wants to donate clothes or money can come to the event and do so.
The Fort Worth Fire Department is still investigating and said the cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
