Martinsville, IN, May 31, 2006--Quick work by Martinsville firefighters saved most of the building housing the Dalton Carpet Depot business at 310 West Morgan St. Monday afternoon,according to the Reporter-Times.
Unfortunately, most of the business’ merchandise was heavily damaged by smoke and water.
The building is located across from the Farm Bureau Co-op on West Morgan Street. Shortly after 4 p.m., two Morgan County Sheriff‘s deputies were filling up their vehicles with gasoline when they noticed fire coming from the second floor window. They notified the fire department, which was on the scene within two minutes. In that short period of time, fire raced up the front of the building and the roof began burning.
While crews were able to keep the fire from spreading, it was the department’s aerial truck that was able to really knock the fire down by getting above the building and shooting water down on the blaze. The truck was able to use its powerful stream of water to knock over part of the brick front of the building and dislodge parts of the metal roof.
A house to the west of the building suffered minor water damage when water spray came through an open bedroom window.
Due to the extreme heat wearing down firefighters, crews and equipment from the Gregg and Washington township fire departments were called for assistance.
Fire crews were on the scene for more than four hours. No one was injured and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
While the building is now being used for the carpet business, for many years it was the site of the Sears Auto Service Center in Martinsville. While the retail building for the Sears store was located in the two-story building at the intersection of Jefferson and Washington streets, the auto work, replacing tires, batteries and other items was done at the West Morgan Street location.
