Smithville man put all he had into opening his business. Then it caught on fire
What was supposed to be a happy day full of love planning his wedding with his fiancé suddenly turned into a day of total devastation for a smokeshop owner in Smithville, as he watched his business go up in flames.
Salem Abu-Namous, the owner of Lakeside Smoke in Smithville, was in Platte City on March 30 touring wedding venues for his July wedding when he got the call: A fire had sparked in the strip mall, quickly spreading from business to business, including to his own.
As he frantically spoke on the phone with his friend who was managing the shop at the time, Abu-Namous could already see black smoke from the fire billowing into the sky.
Still, he had faith that the store he spent a year perfecting would be alright. The fire would stop before it reached the shop, he thought.
“Honestly, the whole way I was driving over there, I was holding on hope. I was hoping that it would stop or it would start raining, or they would figure it out,” he said. “But when I got there, it was gone.”
Lakeside Smoke was one of several businesses destroyed by the fire at Smithville Plaza near U.S. 169 and West Main Street last month. The fire took everything, leaving behind nothing but burnt beams, charred bricks and a smokey scent in the air.
The fire first broke out in the kitchen of West Lake Chinese Restaurant shortly before 2 p.m. that Monday, Fire Chief Dave Cline said. Strong gusts of wind caused it to spread rapidly across the roof of the strip mall, quickly overcoming the entire structure.
That day, Abu-Namous watched from across the street as flames overcame Lakeside Smoke.
“It felt like I raised a child and this child was about to be self-sufficient and about to go out in the world by itself, and then it just died, right in front of me,” he said. “I really, really loved that store, you know, I really cared about it. I put 100% of everything into that store. I cried in that store, I laughed in that store, I did a lot in that store.”
Now, in the wake of the wreckage, Abu-Namous is not only forced to start over and rebuild his business, but the devastation has caused him to push back his wedding, too.
“It’s been really tough, honestly. I’m devastated,” he said.
Abu-Namous, who grew up in North Kansas City, began renting the space inside Smithville Plaza last March and officially opened Lakeside Smoke in May.
Since getting the keys, he said he has put everything he had into the store. He laid the flooring down, painted the walls and managed the storefront daily himself. He was the store’s janitor, owner, accountant, manager and lone full-time employee. If he needed to leave during the day, friends and family would fill in for him here and there.
“I’ve worked really hard on that store for like a year,” he said. “And for that entire year, I worked almost every single day. I put every single dollar that we earned back into the store.”
“I lost everything in there,” he added. “I have nothing left.”
Abu-Namous is currently searching for a new building — hopefully one close to the previous location — to open back up as soon as possible. But a grand reopening likely won’t happen until around June, he said.
Through the uncertainty, however, Abu-Namous remains certain he’ll come back stronger.
“We’re gonna bounce back. I don’t know when we’re gonna bounce back, but I know I’m gonna bounce back,” he said.
In the weeks since the blaze, Abu-Namous has received an outpouring of support from the Smithville community.
Customers and community members have called and texted him to make sure he was safe and doing alright following the fire. Friends started a GoFundMe to help Abu-Namous recover. And his Facebook comments have been flooded with messages of support.
“I can’t wait ‘till you’re open again so I can get our stuff from you once more. Your store was the best,” one person wrote.
“Miss you guys! Real mad we gotta go elsewhere. Can’t wait until you’re back up and going!” another said.
The response has been overwhelming and unexpected, Abu-Namous said.
“I didn’t expect anybody to call and check, honestly. I expected people to care about vapes and not me, but that was not the case,” he said. “It means everything to me.”
This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 5:42 AM.
