A defiant store owner who lost her business in the Joell?s Alley inferno has vowed to bounce back ?with a vengeance?.

Tasa Belboda-Showers, who runs the hair extension shop Uniquely You, said Tuesday morning?s fire left her with ?absolutely nothing?.

But she told yesterday: ?I want to let people know that I?ll be back faster than they can blink their eyes. I have to salvage my livelihood.?

The cause of the fire that ripped through three Hamilton city buildings between Church Street and Victoria Street ? apparently gutting nine businesses in the process ? is still under investigation, fire chiefs confirmed yesterday.

Despite the devastation wreaked by the blaze, traders have said they were upbeat about starting on the long rebuilding road ? even if it means upping sticks and moving to another part of town.

Mrs. Belboda-Showers said there was nothing left of her four-year-old store specialising in hair extensions. It also featured a hair salon that only opened four months ago.

?I can see inside ? there?s nothing left. I have nothing, absolutely nothing.?

But the self-confessed ?weave diva? said she has already arranged a successful interview at a small business centre for loan advice. She cancelled her contents insurance two years ago as premiums increased, so she won?t get any cash for stock valued at $30,000-plus she lost in the rented building that was home to her store.

But the mother-of-three has refused to let her dreams be destroyed by the fire.

?I started working on a plan the day after the fire,? Mrs. Belboda-Showers said. ?By 2 a.m. on Wednesday I had a plan.

?Uniquely You will be coming back with a vengeance.?

She said she first heard about the blaze when a taxi driver friend called her cell phone and woke her just before 5.30 a.m. on Tuesday. Her husband raced to the scene and gave her the stunning news.

?I threw the phone down when he told me, ? she said. ?I couldn?t believe what had happened.?

She said when her children heard about the damage they raided their piggy banks and gave their mother some money. ?I just started to cry,? she recalled.

Mrs. Belboda-Showers? shop was directly above a martial arts academy, where officials said the fire was first reported and where it appears to have started.

Anyone who can help her find another location should call 295-2542.

Bermuda Fire Service spokeswoman Lt. Wenda Godfrey said the probe into the Joell?s Alley blaze could take another week, as experts continue to sift through mounds of debris. A cause has not been confirmed although arson has still not been ruled out.

?We are probably looking at the investigation taking another few days or a week,? she said.

Lt. Godfrey said the investigation team had a good idea where the fire started ? but the source of the three-block blaze could not yet be confirmed.

No cost of the damage was available, however the spokeswoman said the damage bill for business would be ?extensive?.

Property manager Chris Graham-Ward ? whose own office at Bromefield Real Estate was gutted by the fire ? said the area was still sealed off yesterday as the fire probe continued.

?It?s still an area under investigation,? he said. ?None of the businesses have been able to get back in and look at the full extent of the damage.?

He said that for the nine stores that had been completely destroyed there was ?nothing to really go back to?.

Mr. Graham-Ward said that although most business owners he had spoken to in the wake of Monday morning?s fire were ?devastated?, they were still confident about the future.

?It?s very hard to say if they can rebuild in the same place, but they are optimistic they will be able to start again even if it?s in another location.?

He said that his office, containing files, equipment and basic furniture, received heavy water and smoke damage. He was currently working partly from home and partly from space near his damaged office.

Many business owners could not be contacted about damage to their operations. But an answer phone message at PC Parts said the computer store had suffered no direct fire damage, although there had been extensive smoke and water damage.

It took 16 vehicles and 30 firefighters more than four hours in the early hours of Tuesday to bring the flames under control.

Some 13 residents were evacuated from a five-apartment building on Victoria Street. And Andrew?s Place, a six-storey office building under construction next to Joell?s Alley also suffered heat and smoke damage.