Oklahoma City, OK – A beloved Hispanic bakery in south Oklahoma City was destroyed by fire on March 1, with authorities now investigating the blaze as an act of arson. La Oaxaquena Bakery and Restaurant, a staple of the local community for over 15 years, was gutted in the early morning hours when a person, captured on surveillance footage, was seen attempting to intentionally set the building on fire.
According to Emmanuel Vasquez, the son of the bakery’s owner, the video shows an individual walking around the building, pouring gasoline through broken windows, and ensuring the fire spread. “You can see a man come with buckets of gasoline to burn the building and to make sure it burned,” Vasquez said. “He was here for 20 minutes. He breaks through the windows, pours gasoline, and stays there watching to make sure the job is done.”
The Oklahoma City Fire Department reported that the building was unoccupied at the time of the fire, and no injuries were sustained. However, the business, which had been serving the local community for more than a decade, is now considered a total loss, with damages exceeding $300,000.
The fire’s cause has left the family reeling, with many feeling the impact of what seems to be a personal attack. “It’s very hard not to see that as almost a personal attack,” Vasquez remarked. “If someone wanted to do damage to my family, this would be how they do it. It really pains me to think that this was done with malice and with hatred.”
Security footage clearly shows the individual repeatedly smashing windows and dousing the interior with gasoline, further suggesting the deliberate nature of the act. “He didn’t try and steal anything. It was just smash the windows, pour a bucket, grab another bucket, smash another window, pour another bucket. That really shows that it was intentional, that there was a real desire to cause damage,” Vasquez said.
As the investigation continues, the family is left to grapple with the loss of their business and the emotional toll of the incident. They remain hopeful for justice, but the incident has left a deep scar on the tight-knit community that had supported the bakery for years.
