MCKINLEY HEIGHTS Fire at Miracle Motors damages building, cars

The owner came out of retirement last September to reopen his business.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
McKINLEY HEIGHTS -- Denny Walters is becoming more convinced that retirement is the best way to go.
"I think somebody's telling me to stay retired," Walters said as he watched firefighters picking up their equipment Monday afternoon.
An hour earlier, flames had heavily damaged his Miracle Motors, along U.S. Route 422 near Tibbetts-Wick Road.
Weathersfield and Howland Township firefighters were called to the used-car lot shortly before 2:30 p.m.
Still undetermined: Weathersfield Fire Chief Randall Pugh could not immediately determine the cause or estimate the damage to the small one-story frame building and four cars parked near it.
The Metro Arson Task Force has been called in to determine the cause.
Walters, of Howland, who came out of retirement last September to reopen his business, said he was reading a magazine at his desk in the front office when he noticed the fire.
"The place just went up," the 51-year-old Walters said, adding that he then ran across Route 422 to a business, where the fire department was called.
Walters thinks the fire broke out in the ceiling, though he stored a small amount of paint and oil in a back supply room.
Close call: Walters said he could easily have lost the 25 to 30 cars in the lot.
Uncertain of his future, Walters said that if he doesn't go back into business, he'll sell the cars at wholesale. He carries only liability insurance on the vehicles.
Walters started Miracle Motors in 1969 in McKinley Heights and then moved to Warren.
He retired after selling the business. He reopened the car lot here only because he "didn't have too much to do" and it was a good spot to draw potential customers.