A devastating fire at a Jerome Avenue business has left people wondering what to do next.

"It's a bit hard because after you have all your things built, working calmly...starting again is hard. It's like starting over," said Jose Rosa, owner of Serrata Auto Service.

Rosa's business was located on the second floor at 1813 Jerome Ave. The two-alarm fire on Thursday evening burned through the auto shop, leaving behind broken windows and burned rubber. Rosa said the shop was working on 15 cars, and four of those vehicles were damaged. Officials say there were no injuries.

The events are still a cause of concern for some workers returning to work on the first floor of the two-story building.

"You can still smell the smoke...you still have some fear, you are working looking up...lots of precaution...but you know, you have to keep going," said Victor Gomez, a witness of the fire Thursday evening.

Gomez said he grabbed what he could and ran out.

"It’s a frightening thing because imagine it’s something you don’t expect," he said.

As Rosa comes to terms with the aftermath of the fire, another business owner is too familiar with the feeling of loss and pain.

"Is like you feel like you lost everything, that you lost everything that you invested your hard work. And it's like you left the community up in the air," said Jessica Betancourt, owner of Bronx Optical Center, one of six businesses impacted by the March 13 fire on Jerome Avenue and Burnside Avenue.

Betancourt's business was just down the road from Rosa, she said more than seven months later, she still gets frightened when she hears the sounds from a fire truck. Despite the loss, she has set her sights on rebuilding. She advises Rosa to do the same.

"Rebuild around the neighborhood because we cannot just say walk away from the neighborhood that we have invested our time, our effort, and the community needs us. So just to have patience," she said.

Rosa tells News 12 he plans to continue with the business whether it means in the same location or somewhere new.