BLAZE GUTS BUSINESSES IN STRIP MALL.

NORTHRIDGE - A blaze swept through a seven-unit strip mall early Wednesday, destroying three businesses and causing smoke damage to four others.

There was an estimated $315,000 in structure damage and $120,000 in content damage overall at the one-story strip mall in the 18100 block of Nordhoff Street, officials said. The cause of the fire remained under investigation.

Fire officials believe the 3:01 a.m. fire began at Mystic Tattoo and Piercing and spread to Airlink Communications and a video store.

A Thai restaurant, Orville's Donuts, Ameci Pizza and Pasta and Tapioca Express sustained smoke damage, authorities said.

Business owners and their families stood in front of their businesses in disbelief Wednesday morning after learning of the blaze.

The owner of Tapioca Express, 56-year-old Robert Chen, had just opened the business six days ago after several months of preparation, said his daughter, Deborah Chen, 20.

``It took four months to get the place to look the way it did, and now it's all gone,'' Chen said, adding that the business sustained a lot of smoke damage.

The daughter of the owners of Ameci Pizza and Pasta, said her parents have owned the restaurant for 13 years and it has been a big part of the family's life.

``This is like our house; this is like our life,'' she said. ``I'd sit here and do my homework. This is just tragic.''

The daughter, who asked not to be identified, said her parents did not yet know about the fire because they were traveling in another state.

``It's completely awful,'' she said. ``I don't even know what to say to my parents when they call home.''

Seventy-five firefighters battled the blaze before it was extinguished 42 minutes later, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Bob Collis.

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NORTHRIDGE: A firefighter hoses down what's left of one of the stores in a Nordhoff Street strip mall that burned Wednesday.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News