TEMECULA FIRE: Blaze, traffic taking their toll on weekend business

Temecula Fire
TEMECULA FIRE: Blaze, traffic taking their toll on weekend business

Garage Brewing Co. in Temecula had about half its usual sales Saturday because of the traffic jam on I-15 related to the Temecula Fire, manager Julian Lopez said Sunday, June 5.

BRIAN ROKOS, STAFF

TEMECULA - Nearby businesses were hoping to recover Sunday from a lackluster day Saturday when customers -- and employees -- had difficulty getting places because of the traffic backup.

At Garage Brewing Co., which serves fast-fired pizza, manager Julian Lopez said the restaurant did about half its normal sales on Saturday, which is normally its busiest day.

"Even our employees were an hour to two hours late," Lopez said. "All we can do is send people home and clean."

Lopez sent a message to employees Sunday through the restaurant"s online schedule to leave home early for work. He didn"t believe that Sunday"s I-15 nightmare was as bad as Saturday"s.

Customers began trickling in about 11:30 a.m.

MORE FIRE COVERAGE

The fire had been 30 percent contained as of 9:30 a.m.

The Nos. 3 and 4 lanes of the southbound I-15 remained closed from just south of Temecula Parkway to just south of Rainbow Valley Boulevard, causing a serious traffic backup in the approximate 2.5 distance for a second day in a row as crews mop up hot spots from flames that burned right to the highway Saturday.

Officials were hopeful of reopening the No. 3 lane soon, but there was no timetable for that at mid-day Sunday.

The cause of the fire had not been determined as of Sunday.

Source: http://www.pe.com/articles/sunday-804870-day-saturday.html