A fire destroyed an auto body shop off Robinson Road sending a black plume of smoke hundreds of feet in the air that was visible throughout Hickory Saturday afternoon.
The call went out at about 12:30 p.m. that Black’s Auto Sales at 3409 Kanupp Drive was in flames.
Robert Black owns the business and lives next door. When he spotted the smoke, he and his brother, George Black, charged toward his nearly 4,000 square-foot shop.
When they got to the back of the building they saw the grass ablaze and a stack of plastic bumpers burning against the shop's exterior wall.
“I saw the smoke coming around the edge of the building and saw the building and the grass on fire,” Robert Black said. “It definitely started back here.”
No one was injured in the fire, but Black had four cars in his shop that he was repairing for his customers.
He was able to get two of the four out before the flames got too intense and he was forced to stay outside while his business burned.
“It got ahead of me,” he said.
The fire’s cause has not been confirmed, but Hickory Battalion Chief Derik Martin said the preliminary investigation indicated that a brush fire may have ignited the building.
No damage estimate was available at the scene.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement