News from January 25, 2007 issue

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Front page Jan. 25, 2007

Back page Jan. 25, 2007

Driver’s destroyed by fire
Local firefighters said Monday evening’s blaze that destroyed Driver’s Service Center on U.S. 641 just south of Marion was one of the biggest and most dangerous fires in recent history.
Crittenden County Fire Chief Gary Armstrong said units were on the scene until late Monday night but he sent firefighters home until morning. Crews from six fire departments responded to the blaze, four from Crittenden County and two from Caldwell County.
Crittenden County Fire Department had two pumpers and two tankers at the scene. Marion City Fire Department sent a pumper truck, Shady Grove Volunteer Fire Department added a tanker, Mattoon Volunteer Fire Department had two tankers there and Fredonia and Princeton added a couple more tankers and one pumper.
Firemen knocked flames down within about an hour, but they were still on the scene until after 10 p.m.
“We didn’t know what was in there and I wasn’t going to send our firemen inside the building until daylight,” Armstrong said. “A building isn’t worth a man’s life.”
Just before dawn, firemen returned to put out hotspots, mainly tires inside the building that had continued to burn through the night.
The fire started just before 5 p.m., during one of the heaviest traffic periods for the main route south of town. The highway was closed between Marion and Mott City for three hours and traffic was re-routed. Local motorists leaving town after work found their way around the fire by using Coleman or Chapel Hill roads.
Eddie Driver, who has owned and operated the automobile service and repair center for nearly four years, said the shop had closed at 4 p.m., the routine quitting time. He said all of the five employees had gone home for the day when the fire started about 4:45 p.m.
“The neighbors heard a loud explosion,” he said. “Then it was fully engulfed.”
Driver, who said he plans to rebuild his business, estimated the loss at about $500,000.
Five private vehicles were consumed or damaged by the fire. A log truck owned by Jason Berry was parked just outside the shop, but it was destroyed. A grain truck inside the shop owned by Van Hunt was also a total loss. Three other passenger vehicles were destroyed or badly damaged. There was no apparent damage to about a dozen others in the shop parking lot.
No one was injured, but the center’s pet cat was inside and perished in the fire.
“That’s what I hate more than anything,” Driver said, “that the cat couldn’t get out.”
Driver said himself or his mechanics are generally in the shop for an hour, sometimes longer, after closing time, working on their own vehicles or doing paperwork.
“We’re lucky no one was in there. With an explosion, you don’t know if they could have gotten out.”
The county fire chief and others, including DES Coordinator Greg Rushing and Rescue Squad Chief Donnie Arflack, said the fire rivaled the blaze that burned the Ford Garage in Marion in 1980.
“The Turner-Conyer Sawmill fire a few years ago was a big one, too,” Armstrong said.
With an array of solvents, oils and gasoline inside the nearly 6,000-square-foot metal shop, Armstrong said the potential for danger was great Monday night.
“We had a propane tank to explode,” Armstrong explained.
“It blew through the front door and landed in the parking lot,” Arflack added. “Firefighting efforts were initially hampered by the large number of explosions and flying debris.”
Armstrong said firemen fought the blaze from a safe distance, spraying water on it until the hottest flames had subsided. A large plume of smoke rolling out of the building at dusk was visible from more than 10 miles away.
“Because of the large quantity of oil products and tires, the fire burned very quickly and extremely hot,” Arflack said. “It was one of the fastest burning building fires we’ve seen in a while.”
Armstrong said the state fire marshal was called in to investigate the blaze. He said in a fire that large, it’s routine to ask for help in trying to determine the cause.
Driver has already made plans to put his employees back to work. The shop had a strong business, routinely servicing or repairing between 75 and 100 vehicles per week. It had been for sale, listed with a local real estate agency for $350,000.
“I made some contacts about renting a building so we could get back to work,” he said Tuesday morning as he and his wife, Tonya, were sorting through the remains.
Anyone with a vehicle at the shop or who had scheduled service there can contact Driver about possible options. He said the shop’s phone number has been forwarded to his cell phone so anyone with questions can call him at 965-4470.