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'It's going to come back:' Seven Cities Tattoo owner plans to rebuild following devastating fire

Large fire scorches Seven Cities Tattoo in Virginia Beach
Large fire scorches Seven Cities Tattoo in Virginia Beach
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VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A large fire burned through the Seven Cities Tattoo shop at the Oceanfront in Virginia Beach early Wednesday morning.

Around 2:16 a.m., Virginia Beach Fire crews responded to the shop in the 500 Block of Virginia Beach Boulevard where they found the building filled with heavy smoke VBFD said.

Wednesday afternoon, WTKR News 3 Virginia Beach reporter Angela Bohon caught up with Seven Cities' owner Michael Vasquez.

Watch: Video shows aftermath of Seven Cities Tattoo fire

Large fire scorches Seven Cities Tattoo in Virginia Beach

Despite this unimaginable loss, he believes the community will come together to help — and it has: a GoFundMe set up for the shop had raised nearly $10k as of Wednesday afternoon.

“That’s the best thing about the tattoo community and the art community," Vasquez said. "Everybody, when there’s somebody that needs something, they usually come together and make things happen really fast."

Now, they're just sifting through the wreckage and seeing what's salvageable as they begin plans to rebuild.

“I’m not a quitter," Vasquez said. "So it’s going to come back. It’s just seeing what needs to be done, what steps I need to take just to make it happen."

The fire was marked under control at 2:41 a.m. No injuries were reported, according to the Virginia Beach Fire Department.

Here's a link to the GoFundMe set up to support the tattoo shop's rebuilding.

The cause of this fire is currently under investigation.