Opa-locka business owners still struggling to reopen one week after massive junkyard fire

One week after a massive fire tore through an Opa-locka junkyard, Cairo Lane has reopened.

At JDM Kings, employees showed up Monday morning ready to work because, they say, their livelihoods depend on it.

"This is 23 years," Yudelkis Abreau, part owner of JDM Kings said. "I can say this is more than $1 million gone in a second."

The fire ripped through seven businesses, leaving behind burned-out cars, melted metal and piles of debris.

"We had like 800 cars and right now it's gone," Abreau said.

Two acres of charred car parts, once worth thousands of dollars, now cover the lot at JDM Kings. Owners say they're hoping to recover whatever value they can from the remains.

Employees spent Monday helping clear the property, knowing the business's recovery could directly impact their own financial stability.

"It's bad, with everything increasing in prices, no job would be bad at the moment," said JDM Kings employee Roger Breton.

In a statement, the City of Opa-locka said it "is diligently working to see if any assistance can be provided to the business owners on Cairo Lane that were impacted by the fire."

"Financially everyone over here is screwed," business owner says

For Isela Gutierrez, owner of JC Motors, the losses are still difficult to process.

"We're talking about $50,000 to $80,000, we don't know, but financially everyone over here is screwed," Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez said she also lost everything in the fire. Her dogs were inside when the flames broke out but managed to survive.

"Our money is in here, everything what we have is in here, and as you can see there is ashes right now," she said.

Both business owners said they carry liability insurance, but it does not cover property losses.

"We don't know what to do. We definitely don't know. We're kind of lost right now," Abreau said.

GoFundMe's have been launched to the businesses impacted.