ALLENTOWN, Pa - A three-alarm fire tore through an auto body business in Allentown overnight. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.
It took firefighters hours to bring the flames under control.
The fire started shortly before 2:00 am and flames could be seen shooting from the roof.
Lehigh Valley Fire Scene Photos
WGOLV was also at the scene and did a live Facebook stream.
Follow and like for more content.
Two auto body businesses, the Goat Auto Repair and Santino Detailing, were heavily damaged.
Lehigh Valley Fire Scene Photos captured a video of the fire.
Captain Mike Pychinka told WFMZ News, "When crews arrived around 1:45 a.m. this morning, the whole roof structure was on fire."
Historian Frank Whelan told Channel 69 News, the building previously housed the Yeager Furniture Company, with roots that go back to 1885. The company then moved to a larger facility on Lehigh Street in 1889.
Pychinka told WFMZ that every firefighter on shift was tasked with putting out the fire and they couldn't go inside. "Because the fire was too far along, and the structure was unsafe at that point," he explained.
Old heavy timber inside the building ignited and burned quickly.
Employees of both auto body shops, Santino Detailing and The Goat Auto Service were busy salvaging anything they could that survived the fire.
Please remember to subscribe to the website for more news and information right to your inbox! Please also subscribe to the Facebook page as a way of supporting the work of What's going on in the Lehigh Valley (WGOLV) - WGOLV is a mom-owned and run news publication for nearly 14 years and reaches all over the country. It's all self-funded. Community support means so much! Every donation means a lot! Advertising and Promotional opportunities are available!
Contact lorilee@wgolv.com for further information and details. WGOLV also gives back and helps to raise hundreds of thousands for those in our community and first responders every year.
Thank you!
LoriLee
Jose Rey with the company Keystone Property Management & Maintenance told WFMZ, "As a result of that fire, right now that property is very insecure to enter, so we've got to pretty much lock it up, board it up, and make sure that everything is secure."
Property records show the building is owned by Felix Rodriguez, and it's valued at more than $230,000, but now Pychinka believes it's not salvageable he told WFMZ.
Pychinka also told WFMZ, "If I had to guess it's going to be a total loss. I believe they're going to come in with dozers and start knocking it down."
Fortunately, the captain says there weren't any significant challenges getting things under control. It just took a while, about four hours.
The fire marshal is working to determine the cause.