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Vacant bar burns to the ground
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
As the flames leaped into the air and smoke poured out of the old Larry’s Lounge on Tuesday morning, Paul Vickers couldn’t help but think of all the nights he spun music for the people inside.
Vickers was one of several bystanders watching the vacant bar at the corner of West Dewey Avenue and Hillman Street on the South Side as it was engulfed by smoke and fire.
The building is a total loss. Demolition crews were on hand while firefighters fought the blaze to begin clearing the rubble away. Hillman also was blocked off for part of the day so bricks from the building could be removed.
Fire Investigator Capt. Kurt Wright said crews first were called to the building about 6:30 a.m. and encountered heavy smoke coming from the basement. Firefighters entered to see if anyone could possibly be inside, but they were pulled out a short time later because the flames were getting out of control.
Thick, heavy, black smoke billowed in the air from the blaze, at times blotting out the sun and reaching downtown, filling the air with an acrid stench.
When the decision was made to let the building burn down, a ladder truck doused the flames from above. At times the heat was so intense the ladder truck itself had to be hosed down.
Wright said the building has been vacant since 2013, and there were no working utilities inside.
Vickers said he was a disc jockey at the bar for several years. He said it was a fun place to be in the early 1970s and 1980s, at times attracting nationwide acts in the rhythm and blues, soul and funk genres such as the Ohio Players.
“This place was off the hook,” Vickers said before taking video of the fire with his cellphone and narrating it.
A damage estimate was not available late Tuesday, and an official cause has not yet been declared.