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Dec. 14--YOUNGSTOWN -- Omega Door Co. accountant Brenda Vitullo was working late Tuesday, trying to wrap up year-end paperwork when she smelled smoke.
It was an odor similar to when a furnace kicks on, but the Gibson Street business's heat is turned off when employees leave for the day.
"Then the dogs were barking," Vitullo said, and she heard a popping sound on the roof.
She thought the business was being broken into. She opened a door leading to the back of the business.
"There was all this black smoke," Vitullo said.
She called 911 and the company's owner.
"I grabbed my kids' pictures, and that was it," Vitullo said, fighting tears. "My Christmas stuff is still in the back."
She keeps gifts for her children at the office before the holiday.
About 20 employees work at the business, which moved to the city from Boardman in 2001.
Many, like Vitullo, a 20-year company veteran, are longtime workers, she said.
Smoke billowed out of the building's roof as nine of the city's 10 firetrucks responded to the scene. Chief John J. O'Neill Jr. said about 30 firefighters were battling the blaze, which was called in between 6:30 and 7 p.m
"We're calling in reserves to cover the rest of the city," O'Neill said.
Crews used two ladder trucks, dousing the flames that shot through the roof.
"That's the tough spot right there," O'Neill said, pointing to an area in the rear of the business where one of the ladder trucks was soaking the flames.
Vitullo said that's a storage area of the business.
Black smoke poured out as firefighters cut holes in metal doors of the business to gain access, running hoses in with air tanks strapped to their backs.
The heavy smoke prompted additional calls to the fire department as motorists and city residents near downtown wondered about its source.
O'Neill said the business is not a total loss. "There's a lot of product that's salvageable," he said, estimating about one third of the building is a loss.
A cause of the blaze hadn't been determined Tuesday night.
The company offers a range of doors for commercial and residential purposes, according to its online profile. It offers a selection of steel, wood and composite doors. The company also provides designer and rolling doors.
According to Vindicator files, Omega Door acquired the assets of Astra Door and Glass Block, as well as Youngstown Door Closer, in 2002.
