MIDLAND, Pa. — Customers of a Midland community staple are still in shock after fire destroyed the Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant on Midland Avenue, leaving its owners without a business and a home.
Massive flames tore through two buildings early Tuesday morning, one of which housed Hong Kong. At least 10 people have been displaced by the fire, including Hong Kong’s owners, the Jiang family.
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“I feel sorry for them, I don’t know where they are going to go now,” said Howard Allen, a longtime customer. “Great people, good food…and I’m going to miss them.”
Now, those same customers and community members have set out to support the owners. A friend created this GoFundMe page to raise money for the Jiang family.
“When we got the Chinese restaurant, it was huge for Midland. It’s very hard, it seems, to get businesses here, so when they came, we were just happy to have something different. So now that we’ve lost the business, it’s just shocking,” said Lataya Barrett of the Midland Economic Development Corporation.
Many people told us they’d love to see the restaurant reopen in another location.
“I just hope that they have insurance, and god bless them - that’s all I can say,” said Roberto Rocca, a longtime customer. “We need a restaurant here in town.”
A tenant of one of the apartments told Channel 11 the cause of the fire was a candle they accidentally left burning. The state police fire marshal is still investigating.
The Midland Economic Development Corporation placed a box at the borough building for anyone who wants to donate items to the family.
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