Fire fueled by propane, gas destroys Asphalt Solutions
By JOE GORMAN
jgorman@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
Bob Roth had no idea of the fire that was about to devour his Market Street business until an employee came running in to tell him the building was on fire.
Roth, owner of Asphalt Solutions, 7061⁄2 Market St., said he was in his office doing paperwork and the building was empty when one of his employees ran in about 1:30 p.m. Thursday and told him there was a fire.
Roth said he didn’t stick around once he got the word.
“I was like, ‘Get everyone the hell out of here,’” Roth said.
The building was destroyed by the fire, which spread quickly because of all the propane and gasoline inside, said Fire Chief John O’Neill. Crews who arrived first called for additional firefighters and tried to get inside to battle the flames, but O’Neill said once the roof started to collapse, the danger was too great for anyone to be inside and horns on the firetrucks ordered the crews to get out.
“We gave it a run inside until the roof started sagging,” O’Neill said.
A stretcher was brought for one firefighter in the front of the building, but he waved away paramedics and walked away.
O’Neill said the fire was already heavily involved by the time the first firefighters arrived. Had they been able to be there a little sooner, there was a chance the building could have been saved, he said.
Roth said he did not make asphalt at the building, but he stored it there. He said only trucks were inside at the time.
The business employs 20 people and has been around for 15 years, seven at the Market Street location. The business does commercial parking lot seal coating and crack and pothole patching, according to its website.
A vacant house adjacent to the building also was destroyed.
Two ladder trucks were used in the attempt to knock down the fire. There were several explosions and heavy smoke billowed into the air, at times obscuring firefighters who were in the buckets at the top of the ladder trucks. Flaming debris that was hurled into the air ignited a small fire in some trees in a vacant field across the street, but that was quickly put out.
O’Neill said the explosions were caused by the propane and gasoline.
Brian Summers, an employee who lives next door to the building on Falls Avenue, said he was away at lunch and noticed when he came back that the vacant house adjacent to the building was on fire.
“It was already engulfed in smoke,” Summers said.
Capt. Alvin Ware, head of the fire department’s Fire Investigation Unit, said it will take some time to figure out how the fire started, and there is a chance he may never be able to figure it out because of the extensive damage.
Roth said he thinks the fire may have started in a break room.
Roth said he has insurance and he rents the building. He said he will be back in business. Still, as he watched the flames and smoke, he said, “There goes a million dollars.”