The four-alarm fire broke out at 172 East Front Street in downtown Plainfield around 6:30 p.m.
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The fire extended to adjacent buildings, destroying several storefronts.
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Some of those business owners have struggled since the pandemic and now have lost everything.
"It's heartbreaking. I know everything can be replaced but it's still a lot of years' worth of work," La Hooka Jewelry owner Mara Feldman said.
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Feldman watched helplessly from across the street as her business and her dream went up in smoke.
"My whole life is there but at least I'm alive and thank God that all my employees are fine," Feldman said "I thank God for that. No one got hurt."
Firefighters rushed to open doors and windows and vent out the thick, black smoke which darkened the night sky, while still dousing the buildings to keep the flames from spreading even further along the business district.
It's too early to determine what started the fire, but officials believe it began at the Gold Star Jewelry store.
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"All of the sudden the fire came and smoke and everything happened," Gold Star Jewelry Owner Karim Fransis said. "They evacuated everybody out of the stores."
He told Eyewitness News reporter Lucy Yang that fires at this location are a recurring problem.
"Every four to five years something like this happens," Fransis said. "This is not the first one. Second one since here."
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