Deputies investigate fire at Orlando braiding salon

Years of blood, sweat and tears gone in an instant. 

"I cried… I cried. I still cried. I’ll continue to cry," said Shaneeka Clemons, as she looked at her burned business, Braid Bar.  

All that’s left of it are charred chairs and debris. 

"It hurts a lot," Shaneeka said. Braid Bar was her dream.  

"I’ve been braiding hair since I was 15. So, it’s kind of shocking that I worked this hard all these years to get here for this to be taken from me in two minutes."

Early Friday morning her surveillance cameras captured a man walking toward the front door of her business.  

"He pried open the door then he gave a signal with a flashlight for another man to come. The second man came in. They was in for less than a minute. Went in, set it on fire and ran back out," she said showing FOX 35 News the video.  

Someone driving by saw flames and called 911.  She couldn’t even believe one of her braiders showed up to find police and fire trucks surrounding the building and called her on FaceTime.  

She’s still in disbelief. Her salon is gone.  She spent six months and every ounce of her savings setting it up and getting it just right before opening last November.  

"We were preparing for our one-year anniversary," Shaneeka said. 

Instead, she and the five braiders she now considers family, most of whom are single moms like her, are trying to figure out how to recover.   

"Everybody is canceling appointments, giving back deposits because we have nowhere to work. It’s a total loss," Shaneeka said. 

While the Orange County Sheriff's Office and the fire marshall investigate this mess, Shaneeka keeps asking herself why this happened.

"Why someone would do this? Turn yourself in so I can sleep at night," Shaneeka said. 

Right now, Shaneeka is looking for a new space to open a salon and trying to figure out how to pay for it. 

She says her insurance will only cover a portion of what she invested in the business. 

So, she’s started a GoFundMe page.