Newswires

March 31, 2016 Newswires

Fire destroys longtime area business

Daily News (Jacksonville, NC)

March 31--Updated at 5:33 p.m.

The cause of a Thursday morning fire that destroyed a long-time Jacksonville business remains under investigation.

Battalion Chief Jon Crazy Bear said the Stop and Pawn building, located at 1847 Lejeune Boulevard, is a total loss. The red fabric sign outside has been reduced to ash and all that remains is the metal that held it up. Portions of the roof collapsed into the building.

Firefighters spent about four hours pumping over 3,000 gallons of water per minute onto the fire, Jacksonville Fire Marshal John Reed said.

"It makes for a long day, but that's what we do," Reed said.

Harold L. Heath owns property at 1845 and 1849 Lejeune Boulevard, with the value totalling $477,940, according to information from Onslow County. Heath purchased the property in 2012, according to the county, though the business has been operating since at least 1996, according to information from the City of Jacksonville.

Foam was flying through the air next to the shop as firemen sat on the end of the Jacksonville Fire Department truck, waiting to take care of any hot spots that popped up.

"The fire department will be here all day to take care of (hot spots)," Crazy Bear said.

Jacksonville Public Safety Spokeswoman Beth Purcell said the call came in at 3:22 a.m.The first firemen arrived on scene within three minutes.

Firemen arrived to heavy smoke and fire and Crazy Bear said they drowned the entire structure in water.

"Saving grace was there were no injuries," Reed said

Jacksonville Fire and Emergency Services, Camp Lejeune Fire Department and Piney Green Fire Volunteer Fire Department worked on scene alongside the Jacksonville Police Department.

Foul play is not suspected, Reed said. He knew about recent vandalism reports and said around 20 shops, including the Stop and Pawn, had been shot with a BB gun, but Reed does not believe the two incidents are related.

Tiffany Riggs of Hubert was heading home after a visit to the emergency room at Onslow Memorial Hospital with her son when she saw the fire at the pawn shop.

"It was already a pretty good fire when I got there," Riggs said. She said it looked as if the fire was coming from the inside out.

Riggs, who was driving toward Swansboro on N.C. 24, stopped in a turning lane so she could call 911 and report the blaze.

While unsure at first whether others may have already called, Riggs didn't see anyone else around and decided she should stop. She's glad she did.

"I ended up being the first person to call it in," said Riggs, thankful to hear there were no injuries.

- Riggs was asked to stay to give a witness statement and said she also witnessed the quick response of firefighters and other first responders.

She said that within just a few minutes Jacksonville police officers were on scene followed by the fire trucks.

"I can't believe how fast it was between when I called and when they arrived," Riggs said.

Riggs said she hopes their quick efforts to put out the fire will help the business owner recover.

"I'm really glad it was quick response. Maybe the owner will be able to salvage some things," Riggs said.

Riggs did not know the owner personally but has often done business at the pawn shop, buying and selling instruments.

"I just know them from doing business there and they seem like nice people," she said.

As firefighters continued to work at the scene of a blaze at Stop and Pawn, owner Chris Heath saw little remaining of his business.

"It looks like a total loss of at least half of the business if not more," Heath said.

Heath said he doesn't have much information on the fire at this point but got word of it early in the morning.

"I was called about 3:30 a.m. about a fire at the business and by the time I got here it was up in flames," he said.

Heath confirmed that there was vandalism at the business recently but said he doesn't know if there's any relation to the fire. He said the windows of the building had been shot out.

Assistant Special Agent in Charge Shannon O'Toole, public information officer for the SBI, confirmed an arson agent has responded to the scene but no further details were available about the investigation.

O'Toole said that in general the SBI agents are able to provide specialized assistance with regard to the cause of a fire or locating a point of origin.

Jacksonville Public Safety requested the assistance of SBI and ATF, according to Purcell. She said the SBI has assumed the investigation.

"The business is a licensed firearm dealership and we were very concerned about the presence of ammunition," said Timothy A. Malfitano, deputy director of Jacksonville Public Safety.

Public Safety supervisors on scene reported sounds of ammunition rounds exploding during the fire response.

"We are grateful for the fast response of the agencies that came to assist," Jacksonville Fire and Emergency Services Deputy Chief Spencer Lee said.

Lee described it as a dangerous fire due to the size of the building and the contents that were burning.

- "JFES declared a third alarm, which brought in off-duty personnel to cover the empty fire stations," he said. "This ensured that our citizens were not left without fire protection for the duration of the incident. With great teamwork by all agencies responding, we were able to prevent the fire from spreading to other buildings and no one was injured."

ATF officials could not be reached for comment but Heath said he did not anticipate any weapons being unaccounted for.

With fire officials and others conducting their investigation, Heath said late Thursday afternoon that he hasn't yet been able to get inside the building.

Heath said he is aware of questions that customers may have and asks that they be patient while he goes through the process of determining where the business stands and what, if anything, he is able to salvage.

Heath said the investigation is ongoing and insurance adjusters are responding, a process that takes time.

"It's going to be weeks in the making before we know where we stand," he said.

Heath said he will do his best to get things taken care of for his customers. He said customers can still call the business phone number at 910-577-7444, which he has requested to be forwarded to another number, so he can continue to take calls.

Daily News reporter Amanda Thames contributed to this report.

----

Updated at 4:01 p.m.

O'Toole said that in general the SBI agents are able to provide specialized assistance with regard to the cause of a fire or locating a point of origin.

Heath confirmed that agents with the SBI as well as the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) were on scene.

Heath said ATF was there because of the presence of weapons in the pawn shop.

ATF officials could not be reached for comment but Heath said he did not anticipate any weapons being unaccounted for.

With fire officials and others conducting their investigation, Heath said late Thursday afternoon that he hasn't yet been able to get inside the building.

Heath said the investigation is ongoing and insurance adjusters are responding, a process that takes time.

- "It's going to be weeks in the making before we know where we stand," he said.

Heath said he will do his best to get things taken care of for his customers. He said customers can still call the business phone number, which he has requested to be forwarded to another number so he can continue to take calls.

---

Updated at 11:34 a.m.

Battalion Chief Jon Crazy Bear said the Stop and Pawn building is a total loss. The red fabric sign outside has been reduced to ash and all that remains is the metal that held it up. Portions of the roof collapsed into the building.

Firefighters spent about four hours pumping over 3,000 gallons of water per minute onto the fire, said Fire Marshal John Reed.

"It makes for a long day, but that's what we do," Reed said.

Foam was flying through the air next to the shop as firemen sat on the end of the Jacksonville Fire Department truck, waiting to take care of any hot spots that may pop up.

"The Fire Department will be here all day to take care of that (hot spots)," Crazy Bear said.

Firemen arrived to heavy smoke and fire and Crazy Bear said they drowned the entire structure in water.

"Saving grace was there were no injuries," Reed said

The first firemen arrived on scene within three minutes. Jacksonville Fire Department, Camp Lejeune Fire Department and Piney Green Fire Volunteer Fire Department worked on scene alongside the Jacksonville Police Department.

As of now, the fire is still under investigation but there is no foul play suspected, Reed said. He knew about the recent vandalism and said around 20 shops, including the Stop and Pawn, had been shot with a BB gun, but Reed does not believe the two incidents are related.

Updated at 10:29 a.m.

Tiffany Riggs of Hubert was heading home after a visit to the emergency room at Onslow Memorial Hospital with her son when she saw the fire at the pawn shop.

"It was already a pretty good fire when I got there," Riggs said. She said it look as if the fire was coming from the inside out.