Owner of auto shop seeking help after fire

A fire broke out at an automotive shop south of Mesilla on Monday.The owner of the shop says the fire started in a shed then took over his shop and home. It happenedon the 4200 block of Highway 28.

Neighbors tell ABC-7 they heard a loud explosion and then saw smoke fill up the sky.
Ramon Ortega says his business has been closed down for about eight years, but now everything is lost. Monday morningfire crews worked to put out the flames and a portion of Highway 28 was closed for about five hours. Residents could see dark clouds of smoke billowing in the sky from miles away.

Ortega says he doesn’t know what sparked the fire that burned his prized possessions. He says he’s lived there his entire life. He tells ABC-7 he has no insurance and estimates hundreds of thousands of dollars are lost.

“I came through the back and I saw that everything is burned. I’m like, I couldn’t believe that at all,” Ortega said. “It was like just like a nightmare, just like a nightmare. My whole earnings, my whole life time that I put. It’s all gone in a matter of a hour.”

Deputies are still investigating what caused the fire.

Any donations for Ortega can be put under his name at Bank of the Southwest in Las Cruces. Or, donate on his gofund.me account here: https://www.gofundme.com/n5db2ayg