SCOTTSBURG, Ind. — The Scottsburg Fire Department (SFD) responded to a large fire on the backside of the city's historic downtown square Thursday morning.
The structure, Vail's True Value Lumber Company, was a 102-year-old lumber yard. When fire and other emergency crews arrived, they found a heavy fire showing through the roof.
Due to high winds, the fire was extremely difficult to get under control, fire officials said. But with the help of several departments, fire crews were able to extinguish the fire with no fire damage to any other structure nearby.
"Once we realized that this building was lost, there was nothing we could do," James Richey, chief of the SFD, said. "Once the guys advanced in there, there was way too much fire load in there, and they were pushed back out."
Richey said due to the history of the area, they worked quickly to contain the flames. "We had to go to a defensive stance," he said. "Our priority was to protect the square."
The call came in around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday evening and that's when the SFD called in assistance from agencies in the surrounding area, saying the fire was so widespread that it started to pose a major threat to local businesses.
"Anytime there's any kind of fire close to the square or on the square, you know, we really intensify the response," Richey said.
Peyton Byrd, owner of "Ty Tea Boutique" said she had no idea how close the blaze was creeping toward her business.
"My friend Treasure, she just came and you know, was banging on the window," Byrd said. "I had no idea."
She said her business does its own embroidering, so her focus was on making sure she didn't lose everything she had worked for.
"We didn't really have much time and so we were focusing on getting all the machines out of the back," she said. "And then we just made the decision to get all the inventory out."
Byrd said the community is tight-knit and they want to help in any way they can.
"We're gonna see what we can do to raise money to help them," she said."
Richey said losing the building will be a tough loss for the community. The fire chief said that the man who owned the building was named Jack Pitts.
"He was actually a member of our fire department for several years and he just passed away this past winter. So not only did he pass away and now this year, they lost this building. So it's definitely taking a hit to the community," he said.
The Scottsburg Fire Department has launched an investigation into how the fire started. We will keep you updated as we get more information.
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