CINCINNATI (AP) -- The city was negotiating the purchase of a warehouse hours before a fire gutted the building, causing $5 million in damage, officials said.
The city offered Queen City Barrel Co. owner Edward Paul $1.2 million for the property on Thursday. If the deal had been finalized, the city would have been doing the cleanup, said City Manager Valerie Lemmie.
Instead, Paul or his insurance company will pay for demolition and repairs of the 400,000-square-foot warehouse that housed barrels and steel drums for cleaning and repainting.
Officials have said the smoldering ruins probably wouldn't be safe or cool enough for fire investigators to enter before Monday. Heat and 100-foot flames kept firefighters at a distance when the fire started about 6 p.m. Thursday.
Paul said the fire appeared to start in the basement, where air compressing equipment was stored. No one was seriously hurt.
The city had been interested in buying the 104-year-old building as part of an urban-renewal plan targeting Cincinnati's brownfields.
Brownfields are usually abandoned, possibly contaminated, industrial or commercial sites. The city's deal hinged on a clean environmental inspection.
Mayor Charlie Luken said city officials would review past building inspections for the site as part of the investigation.
