February
12, 2015
MORGANTON,
NORTH CAROLINA:
Officials
have determined the cause of a large structure fire that destroyed a
longstanding repair shop on Carbon City Road on Wednesday afternoon.
Mechanics
at Jim’s Service Center, located at 213 Carbon City Road, were removing a gas
tank from a vehicle for repair work, according to a release from the Morganton
Department of Public Safety. The tank fell off a jack that was used to lower
it, spilling gasoline. Vapors from the fuel traveled to a wood stove in the
rear of the repair bay, igniting a flash fire.
The fire
quickly spread beyond what employees could put out with fire extinguishers,
according to the release. When MDPS arrived on scene, the building was fully
involved and everyone had evacuated.
Due to
reported explosions and a heavy volume of fire, firefighters set up defensive
positions to protect nearby businesses and control the blaze. Responders were
on scene from 2:18 p.m. to 6:24 p.m., working with aerial water streams,
handlines, and a backhoe.
Nearby
residents Johnny Walker and Liz Elsner confirmed that there were explosions as
the fire progressed.
“It was
really rolling a while ago,” Walker said. “There was stuff exploding. There are
air tanks in there, pressurized cans, batteries.”
Of
particular concern for firefighters were petroleum products stored in the
building. Scanner traffic Wednesday indicated the fire spread to a building
full of such items after starting in the repair bay.
Two
vehicles were destroyed in the blaze, according to Maj. Mark Bradshaw with
MDPS. No charges will be pressed, due to the accidental nature of the fire.
For
Morganton resident Cecilia Padgett, the fire was an unexpected blow. She lost
her vehicle to the flames, after taking it in for repair work that morning.
“It was
just a shock to everybody,” she said. “I don’t know if they’ve ever had to deal
with something like that.”
Padgett’s
mother, Connie Padgett, said the loss of the service center was also the loss
of a community pillar.
“It’s good
people who run this shop,” she said. “They’ve done some work on my car, too.”
The building
was a total loss, officials confirmed.