Joe Kennedy

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Fire destroyed the Maple Shades apartments in Roanoke on the evening of June 25.

About 30 people were displaced. They lost most of what they owned.

During the blaze, Rajendra Patel kept his Stop N Shop convenience store across 13th Street Southwest open until 1 a.m., well past his usual 8:30 p.m. closing time.

"That's my duty," he said.

In this period of immigration debates, it is useful to contemplate Patel's story.

He has an accounting degree. He worked for 18 years at a bank in Anand, India.

In 1995 he followed his three brothers and his parents to America. He was 42, and he wanted a better life for his daughter, Purvi.

She is a pharmacy student at the Medical College of Virginia.

On the night of the fire, the residents crowded his parking lot to watch it.

Perhaps 50 firefighters and rescue squad members, plus police officers and others, worked at the scene.

The heat seeped into the store and made it feel "just like a tanning place," Patel said.

He handed out water, drinks, ice and snacks at no charge.

He has known many of the residents for years. The apartments, on 13th Street Southwest, were subsidized.

"People struggle," Patel said. "They are very poor. They lost everything. ... When they had money, they came here to buy something. ... I want to help them."

Movin' on up

Patel is a slight man of 53 with a manner that is beyond courteous.

He is a U.S. citizen, proud to say, "I am American."

The door to his supply room bears a large illustration of an American flag that he clipped from the newspaper. It includes the words, "God Bless America."

Photo by Tim Gruber | The Roanoke Times

Rajendra Patel sits beneath his makeshift Hindu altar Tuesday at his Stop N Shop on 13th Street Southwest. Patel normally closes his store at 8:30 p.m. but kept it open until 1 a.m. June 25 when Maple Shades apartments burned down. He offered drinks, ice and snacks for free. 'That's my duty,' Patel said.

Other clips include photos of Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi.

In the corner of a high shelf in the storeroom, Patel has arranged illustrations of Hindu gods. Below is an incense burner. He reads scripture and prays in the store before he opens each day.

New lives

Patel's brother Bhupendra works for the U.S. Postal Service in Houston.

Jagdish is an engineer with General Electric in Salem. Atul owns 10 convenience stores.

The Stop N Shop is open from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. every day of the year.

Patel does not complain.

"This is a great country," he said.

In that tradition of greatness -- Americans are at their best when giving aid -- he stayed at the store during the fire.

"My heart was burning when I see the flames," he said.

As fires go around here, it was a big one.

Six engines and three ladder trucks responded, said Ralph Tartaglia, the deputy chief of operations for the Roanoke Fire Department.

He was called away from the children's Bible school at his Garden City church to take command of the scene.

About 10 firefighters were brought in on overtime.

Tartaglia stayed at the apartments until 1:30 a.m.

The firefighters "worked very hard to cut the fire down," Patel said.

"We were very fortunate that fire happened in the daytime," Tartaglia said. "Once the fire got up into the attic, there was no way to stop it. We couldn't get in front of it to stop it."

If it had occurred at night, people might have died.

The displaced residents may have constituted up to 30 percent of Patel's business at the Stop N Shop.

He misses them.

About the business, he is unfazed.

'I'll be OK," he said. "Let's leave it to God."

Today, he and his family, including his mother, Shanda, 72, will go to River's Edge Park in Roanoke to listen to the symphony and enjoy the fireworks display.

The program is called Music for Americans.

They will fit right in.