By Jim Beller

ROGERSVILLE —  Fire completely destroyed a commercial screen printing service on Colonial Road early Tuesday morning.

Officials are still investigating the cause of the 4 a.m. blaze which gutted Simply Tee-Rific, a screen printing and embroidery operation located at 362 Colonial Road in Rogersville, next door to Liberty Lumber.

Neighbors from a nearby resident awoke to loud cracking and popping and called 911.

Firefighters from Rogersville, Striggersville, Lakeview and Bulls Gap responded promptly, but the business was already fully engulfed.

“Flames were coming through the roof when we got here,” said Emergency Management Agency Director Gary Murrell.

Firefighters battled the blaze for three hours before finally knocking down the flames. “We had it out around 6:30 or 7 a.m. That’s when we finally had control of it,” Murrell said.

Simply Tee-Rific printed publications, stationery, business forms, tags, labels, and textiles, among other things.

“There were boxes upon boxes of tee shirts, paper, glue, paint thinner, and paint in there,” Murrell said. “And it’s a wood frame building. That doesn’t help matters much.”

Firefighters were on the scene well into the morning soaking the structure with water to prevent it from re-igniting and spreading to adjacent residences and businesses.

A portion of Colonial Road was blocked off and traffic re-routed while firefighters worked the scene.

Investigation into the cause was still ongoing at press time.