FAIRMONT — A fire gutted an vacant dry cleaning business in Fairmont on Thursday night, but caused no damage to a historic tobacco warehouse next door that housed chemicals.
The blaze, which was reported at about 10:15 p.m., destroyed the vacant building at 117 Center St. and damaged two buildings adjacent to it, according to Fairmont City Fire Chief James Thompson.
Thompson said this morning that the cause of the fire was still under investigation.
The fire was originally called in as a Dumpster fire behind the Fairmont Department Store. When the first truck arrived, Thompson said, firefighters discovered it was actually a structure fire.
At least six departments responded to the fire and Thompson said some firefighters were on the scene until 3:30 a.m. today putting out hot spots.
“We left with no smoldering at all,” he said.
Thompson said he requested so many departments in order to keep firefighters from getting overheated or over-exhausted. No firefighters were injured.
Thompson said there was no damage to the Big Brick Warehouse, a 1931 building that was being used to store items like fertilizer for crop production. The building had previously served as a hub for Fairmont’s bustling tobacco industry, which was one of the largest tobacco markets in the state for decades.
“We knew we had to keep that building cool,” he said, noting a firewall halted the fire from spreading into the warehouse.
Sandy Stevens, who owned the building, said although her building was lost, she was thankful that firefighters came out in full force. Stevens said the building has been vacant since 2002. She learned about the fire after a friend read a post about it on Facebook and called her.
“I really do appreciate it,” she said. “Had it gotten to the warehouse next door they may have had to evacuate Fairmont.”
