Nelson Lyons saved the photos taken of his business in the days after 18 October 2010, before it looked the way it does now. In one, a flame-blackened wall has been doused with water from firefighters…
Nelson Lyons saved the photos taken of his business in the days after 18 October 2010, before it looked the way it does now. In one, a flame-blackened wall has been doused with water from firefighters“ hoses as they worked to save what they could of the burning building; in another, an aged brick structure, half charred, stands where a gravel lot now opens the view to South 21st Street. The tectum roof in the adjacent shop area that melted with the heat has since been replaced, as have the cracked glass panes in the windows and doors. A brand-new office area greets Nelson“s Glass Service customers stopping by for a service or estimate, and there“s little trace of the blaze that swept the building eight months ago. The fire started on a Monday morning in the office portion of the facility, where an electric heater had been left running. The guard dog, Whiskey, was saved from the blaze, as he had been kept outside that day instead of at his normal station in the office building. Officials estimated at the time that the fire caused about USD 50,000 worth of damage to the facility. Lyons and his crew have put about USD 90,000 worth of renovations into the new facility and demolished the old brick building on its west side, which formerly was connected to the shop by the office building and had been used for storage. The office building, a total loss, also was levelled. In addition to the new office and adjacent glass-cutting area, the shop, which sustained heavy smoke damage, has been renovated. A storage area behind it was barely touched by the fire and required little work, according to Nelson.