A devastating fire tore through a historic area of Petersburg. The fire is contained, but as officials level off the building, hot spots keep starting up. Crews continue working to fully extinguish the blaze.
The huge fire engulfed three buildings in downtown Petersburg. The Ferguson Enterprises building, a plumbing supply company at 35 East Bank Street, was totally destroyed. Nothing was salvageable. The store manager, Bob Watkins says, "It's just one of those phone calls you never want to get." He says despite the fire, they will continue to operate the business through their Richmond location off of Parham Road.
Fire ripped through a warehouse building being used by Habitat for Humanities to store building materials and an apartment building. Residents in the apartment building were evacuated in time and no one was injured.
Petersburg firefighters have called in help from fire departments from Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Hopewell, Fort Lee and Colonial Heights. Petersburg Firemen say they have determined where the fire started but have not yet determined what caused the blaze.
First word of the block-wide fire came in about four o'clock. About six o'clock a side wall of the Ferguson Enterprises building collapsed. And firefighters say they are worried about the stability of another wall.
Crews will continue working for several hours, and possibly tomorrow.
