A devastating fire started at Dewayne’s Tire Services the evening of Aug. 11. Dent County Fire Protection District and other surrounding departments had 50 personnel who worked the scene for 10 hours, braving hazardous fumes, an explosive backdraft, and traffic from onlookers.
Fire crews battled the blaze, police officers blocked traffic, and wrecking crews scrambled to relay customer cars out of the parking lot so they wouldn’t be damaged. While no injuries were reported, the fire resulted in a near total loss of the building.
Aug. 17, owner Dewayne Arthur was at the remains of the shop, picking up the pieces of his business – his livelihood -- that could still be used. He said he was searching for anything salvageable and taking pictures. Helpers with Arthur used equipment to move debris aside to access parts of the building. Arthur said the insurance company had just released the building back to him.
“It sucks, but we’ve got to recover,” said Arthur, when he spoke to The Salem News at his business. “We’re just mainly getting tools out and keeping people away.”
Arthur, who was on the scene during the fire, said that there are currently no concrete answers as to what sparked it. The State Fire Marshal’s office investigated the fire, according to Dent County Fire Protection District Chief Brad Nash, but no official word has been given as of press time.
“They’re thinking in the attic, in the office, possibly a mouse chewed a wire or something. They don’t know, but that’s what the insurance fire inspector said,” said Arthur. “When I showed up, it was like a quarter after, and just a little bit of smoke was coming out of the corner of the building. It was like that for an hour.”
DCFPD Chief Brad Nash had previously told The Salem News that he had thought there might have been overstock tires stored in the attic which caught fire, but said he wasn’t sure, as he’d never been in the
space himself. According to Arthur, no tires were stored in the attic, which he says was not easily accessible.
“There’s no way you can get in the attic to put tires,” he said.
After crews arrived on the scene, they ascended a ladder with axes, attempting to open a hole into the attic. Arthur said that once the bay doors of the business had been opened, the extra oxygen being sucked into the fire caused the sudden backdraft explosion that occurred moments later.
“They were trying to break a hole in with an axe, but that’s not what initially caused it to blow. They cut a hole in the garage door, and it sucked the air through the garage door, and that’s where it initially started,” said Arthur.
Arthur said that much of the damage to the rest of the building was due to the roof catching fire.
“It was hot above. All this was blocked, obviously. But just the roof caught on fire. The only time anything caught on fire was because the roof fell on it. If the roof hadn’t fallen, that car would be ok,” said Arthur, referring to a customer’s vehicle that had been destroyed by fire while sitting on a hydraulic lift. A hydraulic lift, which according to Arthur, is unlikely to be salvageable.
When asked if anything was salvageable, Arthur said there was a bit, but the hydraulic equipment and other machines were most likely too damaged to be used.
“There’s some hand tools, but machines and stuff, no. I wouldn’t trust [the lifts] again after being hot,” he said, before being asked if the heat might have weakened the temper of the metal. “I’d be afraid of it, yes. Before I’d use them, I’d have them inspected,” he replied.
Two burned-out vehicles sat atop the two hydraulic lifts that Arthur was speaking about. According to him, those were the only two customer vehicles that were damaged by the fire. Local wrecking crews from Whitaker Towing and American Automotive & Towing moved quickly during the blaze, relocating customer cars from the parking lot to anywhere nearby that had room.
“Just these two were damaged from the initial fire. One damaged from the tow truck, but that’s being taken care of. No, just these two, and the car. We got them all away quick enough. We had cars scattered from the old shoe factory to the McDonald’s!” Arthur laughed.
Arthur said the ordeal made for a long night.
“My wife and I left here at 4 Saturday morning. We took a shower, and took about an hour nap, and came back. We were here all day Saturday, so it’s been long. “
The community rallied during the fire. DCFPD Chief Nash said that citizens brought food and water to the scene. Owners of Chilton Oil Company across the street opened their building so that crews could cool off and use the restroom, according to Nash. According to Arthur, several people within the community offered help in the days following the fire, and he is still at work helping his customers as he can.
“I’ve even had customers offer me their garage at home to work out of, and barns and stuff. We actually went out this morning and put on two loader tires out at Spencer Lumber Company for him. He’s a good customer, so I go out of my way to do that for him. Anybody else needs me, I’m there,” said Arthur.
Arthur said Dewayne’s Tire Services will be rebuilt, and he hopes to be back open for business in around three months from now. He said the location will remain the same.
“I’ve got a lot of good customers. A good customer base. I don’t want to lose them,” he said.
In the meantime, several employees of Dewayne’s Tire Services are out of work, while they await rebuilding. Arthur said other local shops have offered temporary work to those affected.
“I’ve got one guy out there at Tiny’s, and my boy, he is helping [another shop] out a little bit when he needs it. They’ve offered me buildings to work out of. A bunch of friends, I’ve known for a while,” he said. “I appreciate it. I appreciate a lot of the thoughts and prayers going on. The community is coming together. I’ve had a lot of people offer to help clean up.”
For now, Arthur is taking it a day at a time – hoping to rebuild what was lost.
“It’s a mess, but one day at a time, we’ll get her cleaned up,” he said. “We’ll be back hopefully in about three months. I’ve got to get somebody to come in here and knock it all down and start all over.”
