An early morning fire destroyed a portion of a shop Tuesday, March 8, on Rowell Hill.
Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District personnel responded to the blaze, which was reported shortly before 1 a.m., to find the northwest side of the shop at Glacier Window and Door, 27230 Rowell Hill Road, fully involved, Battalion Chief Randy Whitfield said.
The building is owned by Ken Cheek.
“As soon as I got there I hit the second alarm, with an emphasis on tenders,” Whitfield said. “We didn’t have enough water.
“The fir trees around the building were on fire. The flames were 150 feet in the air.”
Water supply issues were resolved when three tenders from Sweet Home and one from Brownsville arrived, he said.
Also responding were Engine 21 from Sweet Home, and engines from Lebanon, Halsey and Mohawk Valley.
“We just ran out of people,” Whitfield said. “It was kind of a ‘y’all come’ fire.”
Whitfield said the roof over the west side of the shop was collapsing when he arrived, but firefighters were able to save the remainder of the shop, aided by a wall and a loading dock.
The building is well off Rowell Hill, but a turnaround allowed tenders to access the fire easily, he said.
The fire was out by 4 a.m., he said.
Damage to the contents, which included a forklift and woodworking tools, was estimated between $300,000 and $350,000, Whitfield said.
He said he didn’t have a damage estimate for the building.