Before dawn this morning (Monday, February 24), a fire broke out at Chupaflor, a closed ice cream shop at 11 East Louisiana Avenue. The Denver Fire Department handled the situation quickly, preventing the spread of fire to Maria Empanada, which shares a wall with Chupaflor.

"The fire was next door and did not come to our location," says Victor Arango, director of marketing, communications and PR for Maria Empanada, adding that he's relieved no one was injured at either location.

Maria Empanada has occupied the corner space at 1298 South Broadway since founder Lorena Cantarovici moved her Argentinian cafe and bakery there in 2014. Chupaflor was an offshoot of Adelitas Cocina y Cantina (at 1294 South Broadway) that opened in 2017 and ran for two years, but has been unoccupied since December 2018.

Arango notes that the electricity was shut off at Maria Empanada and will remain off until investigations and inspections are complete. "But we'll be open for business as soon as the inspector says we're good to go," he adds, and says he expects that shouldn't be more than a couple of days.

Adelitas is also closed because of the electrical outage, but posted this message on its Facebook page: "Hi everyone, we will be closed today due to a fire that started next door! The power is out, however, the neighborhood is safe. Thank you for your concern and thoughtfulness."