Fire destroys vacant commercial building in Thomasville
THOMASVILLE — The Thomasville Fire Department spent several hours on Wednesday responding to a large fire at a vacant commercial building on Salem Street.
According to Thomasville Fire Chief Jason Myers, at 6:57 a.m. on Jan. 4 crews responded to a report of an active fire at a two-story building located at 603 Salem Street. Upon arrival, heavy fire was showing from the rear of the structure, which quickly engulfed the entire building. Within a few hours, the roof and the second story of the structure had collapsed.
The building, which previously was used by a transportation company, was vacant at the time of the incident and was deemed a total loss.
Myers said due to the intensity of the fire, crews were unable to enter the structure, but continued to use ladder trucks to fight the fire from outside. Once the fire was extinguished late Wednesday afternoon, firefighters continued to monitor the structure for flare-ups from hot spots.
Due to the activity of emergency personnel in the area, portions of Salem Street from Stadium Drive to Lodge Drive were closed most of the day. Residents were urged to avoid the area.
At this point, investigators have not been able to enter the structure to determine the cause of the fire. Myers said there have been unconfirmed reports by law enforcement that the building was being used by the homeless for a temporary shelter, but no evidence has been recovered to determine that as a contributing factor.
Several other fire departments and agencies assisted Thomasville Fire Department during the incident, including Fairgrove, Pilot, Linwood, Southmont, Central Davidson, South Davidson, Reeds, Churchland, Gil-Rand, Hasty and Tabernacle. Thomasville Police and the City of Thomasville Public Works and Utilities also assisted.
This article originally appeared on The Dispatch: Fire destroys vacant commercial building in Thomasville
