Photo courtesy of Jim Obermeyer
| Published: 2:52 PM, 08/26/2008 |
Last updated: 2:55 PM, 08/26/2008 |
Source: The Rogersville Review
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.
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