Explosions erupt, fires blaze and several Bento’s menus fill the air as the building once hailed as a high-end Japanese-style restaurant now burns to ash.

Emergency alerts went out to everyone’s phones notifying them of the disaster at Bento’s. Naturally, instead of staying far away, many concerned and intrigued citizens rushed to see the restaurant now up in flames. Firefighters, LSPD, Detectives, EMS, Public Workers and even the Downtown Cab Company was on site and ready to help combat the fire in anyway they could, while onlookers took selfies and posted to Yeeter for clout.

Bento’s building on fire (Credit: Johnathan Cox)

Our team was on scene moments after the alert went out, and our producer Mr. Johnathan Cox captured the above photo as soon as he arrived on scene. Unlike LS Diatribes, we capture our own images, and if we’re ever using one from another source, we’ll always credit.

But back to the main event, the stabbing. Yes, not the fire. The stabbing. While everyone had their attention turned towards the burning restaurant, another crime was being committed right in front of the building. Johnathan Cox was interviewing individuals on how this fire started (More on this later in the article), and from the corner of his eye, he saw an altercation break out between two individuals, with the one wearing the improvised firefighter outfit stabbed in the abdomen. Our team attempted to garner the attention of the EMS on scene to no avail, so we self transported the individual to the hospital and later learned that he was the victim of a random hit contract, where people are paying to have random individuals harmed or even killed. [WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGERY]

The unnamed individual awaiting treatment (Credit: Johnathan Cox)

Now onto the cause of the fire: While interviewing citizens on scene, one self proclaimed expert said the fire was caused by a gas leak, with the fire spreading easily due to the dust particles covering the interior from lack of activity and routine cleaning. He then explained that building a restaurant out of traditional wood and paper walls while having 4 separate gas-fed ovens and stoves poses a serious risk, and is surprised it didn’t burn down sooner.

Firefighters put out the flames (Credit: Dee Smith)

Bento’s isn’t the only building to be burnt down recently. Both Pearl’s and the Mind, Body & Soul business have been burned or damaged in someway these past few days, with Pearl’s building charred from the flames and windows boarded up. Whether or not we’re having an arson spree or just faulty gas lines, Los Santos is starting to have a bad problem with spontaneous burning buildings.

In other news, statistically speaking, this is the most foot traffic Bento’s has seen in months, and thanks to the fire, for once the food isn’t raw.