Va. Businesses Heavily Damaged by Fire

Feb. 10--A fire heavily damaged a business on Princess Anne Street in downtown Fredericksburg and spread to a building next door, fire officials said Thursday.

No one was injured in the fire.

It began shortly before 12:30 a.m. Thursday in a 21/2-story building at 702 Princess Anne St., which was occupied by The Old Blantons Store.

When city firefighters arrived, heavy fire was coming from the first and second floors of the building and soon spread to window frames and the interior of the building next door, at 700 Princess Anne St.

Firefighters had the fire under control in about 20 minutes, but were on the scene for six hours.

Fredericksburg Deputy Fire Chief Michael Jones said that both buildings were unoccupied and the cause of the fire is under investigation by the fire marshal's office.

"Most of the building will probably be salvageable but there will be a significant portion of the back that will need to be torn off and rebuilt," said John Walsh, the city's property maintenance code official.

He said much of the damage inside is due to smoke and water damage.

"Another 10 to 15 minutes of burn time and we'd have a significantly different outcome for both buildings," he said.

He credited the fire department for containing the fire mostly to the building at 702 Princess Anne.

The structure was built in 1910 and its style is Queen Anne-Colonial Revival Transitional, according to a reconnaissance-level survey from the state Department of Historic Resources.

The building is owned by Francis P. Valentino and Sally Sellner of Chase City and was assessed at $217,800, according to the assessment done in 2009.

The building next door, at 700 Princess Anne, was built in 1836. It's currently occupied by several law offices.

The damage to it includes broken windows, damage to the second floor and damage to the roof underlayment, Walsh said.

Both buildings are located in Fredericksburg's Historic District.

"The truth is, we came close to losing both buildings. The fire department did a heck of a job of saving both of them," Walsh said.

The Old Blantons Store is an antiques store, and had rooms full of antiques that spilled out onto the porch and brick sidewalk in front of the building.

Items that were salvaged were being moved out Thursday.

Robyn Sidersky 540/374-5413

Email: [email protected]