Pacific Rim restaurant fire: Sarasota community rallies to help owner rebuild

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - A fire tore through Pacific Rim early Saturday morning, leaving the family-owned Sarasota restaurant of 26 years in ruins.

Owner Veth Senenoi has run Pacific Rim since 1998. He said the scale of the damage caught him off guard.

“I never thought it would be this devastating. It’s a big, big, big fire,” Senenoi said.

Dozens of volunteers showed up to help with cleanup efforts following the fire. By midday, two 20-foot dumpsters had been filled.

“By noon we mobilized two 20-foot dumpsters and had four people put here to start clean up — it was not a contractor that did all that, it was a community that came together and really helped out,” said Iris Klicic of RidgeCP.

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Sarasota resident Betsy Tilemeier said she and her husband had dined at Pacific Rim the night before the fire.

“I just can’t imagine the impact for this family. We were actually here for dinner Friday night, my husband and I, John, and we sat at this table,” Tilemeier said.

She said she learned of the fire shortly after.

“We were out with friends last night who also said, ‘Oh my god, I love that place,’ and then I read about this,” Tilemeier said.

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