A weekend fire in east Vancouver has left several small businesses scrambling to pick up the pieces and start over.

The building is a rundown, metal-sheathed Quonset hut at 1736 East Hastings St. with several small businesses housed inside, including photography studios, a hair and makeup agency and a wedding florist.

In Google street view photos taken last year, the outline of “Pacific Mortar Factory Ltd.” can still be seen on the graffiti-covered exterior wall. The building has also housed an automotive shop in the past.

Faye Smith, who ran a hair and makeup business out of the building, said her husband, Brandon Hart, lost over $100,000 in photography equipment in his studio.

“I found out at 3 p.m. (Sunday) when I was driving back from work and happened to see the building on fire,”

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