Fire breaks out in Montgomery Building

March 12--A fire broke out at the Montgomery Building in downtown Spartanburg Saturday night, but the extent of the damage is not yet known.

Spartanburg Fire Chief Marion Blackwell said the fire broke out in the basement and traveled up the ductwork to the second floor above the theater.

Blackwell said the challenge was getting to the empty space between the roof and ceiling to extinguish the blaze. Firefighters had to use saws to cut through the plaster walls to get water to the flames, Blackwell said.

"It's not been a very large fire. It's just been a nasty kind of fire to get to," Blackwell said. "There's been a lot of intensive physical opening of walls. Just a lot of labor-intensive firefighting."

Smoke could be seen coming from the building, and a section of St. John Street at the side of the building was closed.

Crews from the Spartanburg, Croft, Drayton and Hilltop fire departments responded to the scene.

Crews were being rotated in and out in order to rest.

Fire marshals were on the scene, and Blackwell said once the building was ventilated and all the smoke was cleared, they would begin their investigation.

Workers were in the building Saturday doing remediation work, Blackwell said.

Construction recently began inside the building as part of a $25 million renovation project.

Restaurant and retail space is planned for the ground floor, while the second floor will house office space. The third through 10th floors will be converted to apartments.

Funds are being sought to restore the Carolina Theater, which is not a part of the main project. The theater was donated to the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation, which is looking for an investor.

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