Fire burns down pottery business in East Liverpool

Staff report

East Liverpool

An effort is underway to keep business coming to W.C. Bunting, 1425 Globe St., which was heavily damaged by fire Friday morning.

The company designed a range of products including mugs, ornaments and dinnerware. According to the company’s website, it still has the production capacity on kiln-fired ware under normal scheduling.

The company is subcontracting orders to another local company, said East Liverpool Fire Chief William Jones.

He said the firefighters received the call between 3 and 3:30 a.m. The fire was concentrated on the center and left side of the facility.

The shipping and production areas along with the five kilns were damaged by the fire. The roof of the building had collapsed, Jones said. The office, warehouse and decorating sections of the facility sustained smoke damage.

Jones said the fire caused more than $1 million in damage. An investigation is underway to determine how the fire started.

The owner was unavailable to comment late Friday.