Firefighters respond to a commercial structure fire at 170 Fox Drive in Piqua on Wednesday morning, Jan.3.
The fire is still under investigation, but appears to be accidental, according to Piqua Fire Department.
Mike Ullery | For Miami Valley Today
By Sheryl Roadcap
PIQUA — Firefighters responded to a fire at a commercial structure at 170 Fox Drive in Piqua on Wednesday morning.
According to Piqua Fire Assistant Chief Timothy Risner, the structure sustained minimal damage during a fire which “appears to have been accidental” from work being conducted on a door. The incident is still officially under investigation, but the new tenant, Risner said, was having work done on a door and sparks from the grinding and cutting caused a fire to ignite with a combustible type of metal in the rafter area.
A few employees, who were present, called 911 at 9:27 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 3, and evacuated the building. Upon arrival, Risner said they found flames in the ceiling area and initially applied water to attempt to put the fire out, but realized water caused the fire to flare up, so they changed tactics and switched to utilizing fire extinguishers.
It took about 40 minutes to extinguish the fire, Risner said. The power had to be cut off, as it appeared to reignite the fire, he said.
Assisting Piqua Fire at the scene were units from Lockington, Fletcher, Covington, Sidney and Troy Fire Departments. Piqua Power and CenterPoint Energy also responded to the scene.
No one was injured in the incident. Although there was not a lot of damage, Risner said building did sustain some damage to the electrical wiring and, therefore, the building is temporarily closed to employees until it is assessed.
