Fire Destroys a Piece of History
posted 11:42 pm Thu May 08, 2008 - Danville, VA
Stay on top of breaking news! Sign up for ABC 13 e-mail alerts.
In Danville, fire crews still at the scene of that massive blaze at the Long Mill buildings have had to take precautions because of the weather. They've had to lower the ladders on their trucks and make sure they've got shelter - as the rains and winds move through.
That fire caused evacuations, street closings and heartache for some. Crews have partially contained the fire. Firefighters are still surrounding it, to make sure it stays that way. A different scene from earlier Thursday when crowds stood and watched as the fire kept spreading.
Clara Fuller - "I have never seen anything like this before in my life. It's crumbling down, it's crumbling down! It's falling, it's falling down, yeah, they have lost control of the building! They have lost control of the building."
At first, the water couldn't come quickly enough. The flames were out of control.
Richard Evans - "I've seen fires, but nothing like that though."
Blake Russell - "This is like, this might be in history books."
You could only get close by foot. And that's exactly what crowds of people did.
Derrick Wilson - "We're probably about two to three miles away and we could feel the heat, we could feel the steam, we could feel the flames, I mean the heat from the flames all the way over here."
The fire started in a pile of debris, then spread quickly to the first building, the oldest one in the group.
Alexander Garrison - "One of the walls collapsed, totally off."
And that building completely collapsed, the other, partially. For some, watching that happen wasn't easy.
Patrick Willhite - "Lot of people put a lot of time into this place and to see it burn, is kind of sad."
Rose Shields - "This is what put Danville on the map, this is Danville's people going up in flames."
Others see it as a sign to move on.
Wilson - "It's time for a change. We see something positive in this as well."
But after a couple of hours making sure this inferno didn't spread. The good news really is that no one was hurt.
Ray Horsley - "It's a terrible thing to see this happening. But thank God for the Danville Fire Department."
This was a difficult fight for them, too. There weren't any working fire hydrants on the property and there were no sprinklers inside. Close to 50 firefighters were out there and there will be a crew staying through the night as well.
Those buildings firefighters were fighting to save were much more than just brick and mortar. The buildings were a big part of Danville's history and part of a major debate. The Danville Historical Society worked hard to save them, but the city ordered they be torn down.
So the new owners decided to rebuild. Both are emotional about this fire. Ben Davenport, one of the current owners of Long Mill, says it was a loss because they were trying to salvage much of what was inside the buildings, things like valuable pieces of wood and other materials. Now it's all gone.
Nonetheless, Davenport says he's just glad everyone is safe. This loss hits the Historical Society very hard, too. They say this was another nail in the coffin for a historic area.
Gary Grant, Danville Historical Society - "The whole thing is so dispiriting and so sad and I have been depressed about it for well nine to a year now, when I began to sense what was in the offering for that site."
Ben Davenport, Property Owner - "I'll tell you the fear that you have in something like this, is that someone is hurt. And it is I know the whole way I was going to the job site I was just hoping and praying knowing that the walls would be collapsing and we just wanted everybody to be safe."
Davenport emphasized that this fire happened on the part of the property that was not actively being demolished. He is not quite sure how this fire could have started but he says it will set them back in developing the property.
© 2008 WSET-TV, Inc.
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The 'RUNNING MAN' icon is a registered trademark of America Online, Inc.
ABC 13 to leave comments on news stories.