By the time Ira Mosley received a call around 6 a.m. from a friend passing by Papa Dan’s Pizza & Pasta, his popular restaurant in Palm Desert was already engulfed in flames to the point that all its alarms were melted.
Mosley, who has owned the restaurant just off Country Club Drive for most of its existence, quickly hurried over to the scene as the sun was coming up that Sunday, April 14. But by that point, four businesses — including his — had been largely destroyed by the fire, which was reported just before 4 a.m. Putting out it took required 16 fire engines and 60 firefighters from CalFire/Riverside County Fire Department.
“I just saw 40 years go up in smoke, but you know, it is what it is,” Mosley told The Desert Sun this week. “Nobody was in there, and nobody got hurt.”
Now he’s turning his attention to trying to take care of his workers and making plans to reopen in a new spot nearby.
Along with Papa Dan’s, which opened in 1984, three other businesses in the strip mall were destroyed in the fire: D’ Coffee Bouteaque, Reverse Mortgage Works and Miracle-Ear Hearing Aid Center.
Mosley said the hearing aid center is soon moving into a nearby space in the shopping center, while he was unsure of the other two businesses. (The Desert Sun’s attempts to contact the owner of D’ Coffee Bouteaque about the coffee shop’s future were unsuccessful.)
Soon after the fire, Cal Fire investigators determined that it was “recklessly caused,” leading to the arrest of a 30-year-old woman, Natalie Ann Marie Radu, who was reportedly homeless. Radu has pleaded not guilty to a felony charge for unlawfully causing a fire, with the court case ongoing. Jail records show she was released from jail on April 20 on $50,000 bail.
On Friday, a Riverside County judge issued a bench warrant for Radu’s arrest. That typically happens when a defendant fails to appear for court, although online records did not state a reason.
Court documents do not detail why investigators think she set the fire.
Hopes to reopen this fall
Mosley said Papa Dan’s was covered by insurance, and he’s planning to use some of that money to reopen later this year in a slightly larger space nearby in the Plaza de Monterey Shopping Center.
“The city has fast-tracked all the permits and all the rest of the stuff, so hopefully, we will be in and going by October,” Mosley said.
The restaurant has 45 employees, who Mosley said were “doing OK” amid the chaotic situation. He said his employees got a paycheck right after the fire and have another coming at the end of April, with some wages “coming out of my pocket, big time.”
“The insurance will cover some employees for 60 days and major employees for up to a year,” Mosley said, adding he hopes to retain his crew. “Some of them have been here 35 years. Just the thought of having to retrain an entire staff doesn’t thrill me.”
Mosley said the backing he’s gotten from the community has been “overwhelming,” estimating he’s gotten more than 250 messages of support. Last week, a fundraiser for the impacted businesses was held at a campaign office for Democratic congressional candidate Will Rollins, which sits in the same shopping center.
Given the short-term uncertainty, Mosley has started a fundraiser on GoFundMe dedicated solely to supplementing his employees for their lost wages, particularly during the upcoming seasonal lull in the Coachella Valley.
“It’s unfortunate because finding a job for all these people, if they should choose to do that, it’s virtually impossible out here in the summertime,” he added. “But surprisingly, I’ve gotten phone calls from other restaurants, saying ‘If you guys need it, we can find a place for some of them.’”
Mosley, who thinks his restaurant is likely one of the oldest ones still operating in the area, said he’s heard from people who’ve been coming to Papa Dan’s for 15, 20 or even 30 years. While they’ll have to wait several months, his team will be back to prepping pizzas in Palm Desert soon.
“I’ve been around for 40 years, and the city seems to be overly doing their thing to get us back up and going,” Mosley said. “Everybody has just really, really stepped up.”
Tom Coulter covers the cities of Palm Desert, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells. Reach him at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Desert pizza parlor destroyed in fire plans to reopen nearby
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