LOWGAP, N.C. --
Lowgap fire department and business officials are dealing with the aftermath of a freakish blaze that caused heavy damage to a fire truck and garage during the weekend.
The incident resulted in the loss of a fire engine owned by the Skull Camp Volunteer Fire Department and has forced the temporary closure of LH & B Truck and Trailer Repair on N.C. 89.
A total damage estimate was not available Tuesday for the blaze, which was reported Saturday morning after the fire engine erupted in flames shortly after being brought in for repairs.
“We had just taken it into the shop to be checked up on some things,” Skull Camp Fire Chief Josh Moose said, and a garage operator parked the vehicle in the structure. “He had pulled it inside the building that night at our request so nothing would be stolen off it.”
At some point overnight, the vehicle caught fire, heavily damaging it as well as the garage and some of its equipment. “At about 5:30 a.m., somebody saw smoke” and reported the blaze, Moose said.
As of Tuesday, it was not known if mechanical or electrical issues that had prompted the truck being taken to the shop were what sparked the blaze. “It’s still under investigation,” the fire chief added Tuesday. “I do know it was a complete accident. It was not the fault of anybody.”
Work had not started on the fire engine when the blaze occurred, Moose said.
Four area fire departments responded to the blaze, including members of the Skull Camp, Pine Ridge and Franklin volunteer units and the Galax, Va., Fire Department. “We had it under control within 10 minutes,” Moose said.
But the fire engine received much damage, especially to the cab area. “The truck will have to be replaced,” Moose said of the 2000 Freightliner, which costs about $350,000 brand-new.
Business 'Hurting' As Result
The garage building, while not losing its structural integrity, Moose said, did suffer heavy smoke and heat damage.
“The inside of the building is in real bad shape,” said Bobby Hice, a partner in L & H Enterprises of Lowgap, a multi-faceted operation that also includes LH & B Truck and Trailer Repair.
“I don’t have a damage figure,” Hice said Tuesday, explaining that those details were still being sorted out with insurance company representatives, including an adjuster who was to visit the site later in the day.
As for when the garage might be repaired and reopened, “it could be a month or two months,” Hice said, citing uncertainties regarding insurance and related matters.
That includes determining fault so claims can be settled accordingly, said garage owner/operator J.W. Boles. He said the delay in getting back up and running will pose a hardship to himself and two others who work at the business.
“Well, it’s hurting us bad,” Boles added Tuesday of the closure. “There’s three families that’s not getting paid, so it’s bad.”
Fire Unit Regrouping
Chief Moose said the Skull Camp Volunteer Fire Department is adjusting to the loss of the engine in a way that won’t compromise its readiness to serve the community.
“We have a neighboring department that has offered a spare engine to us,” he said. “So we already have another engine in place to do what we have been, like it (the fire) never happened.”
Before the blaze, Skull Camp had seven “first-run” engines available. And with the loaner being offered, the weekend incident won’t hamper services to the Lowgap area “at all,” Moose said. The department has 39 members.
Meanwhile, it is hoped that LH & B Truck and Trailer Repair will be able to reopen soon.
“They do all the mechanic work for our vehicles,” Moose said. “They do a really good job and we appreciate everything they do.”
This article appeared in Wednesday's edition of the Mount Airy News.
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