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Firefighters from Celina, Montezuma, Coldwater and Rockford responded to a huge fire early Wednesday morning at Kerns Chevrolet on South Walnut Street in Celina.
CELINA - The Kerns Chevrolet GMC dealership was gutted by a fire that broke out early Wednesday morning, forcing the business to relocate operations to Kerns Ford on Logan Street.
No one was injured in the blaze believed to have started between the service area and offices on the north side of the dealership at 218 South Walnut St., but the facility is considered a total loss, according to Celina Fire Chief Joel Lange.
About five vehicles were in the service area at the time of the fire, Lange said. They were kept inside as part of the investigation.
Lange did not have a damage estimate by press time, but said the building is insured.
The State Fire Marshal's Fire and Explosion Investigation Bureau (FEIB) was requested to assist in determining the cause of the fire. Asked if foul play is suspected, Lange said "it's still under investigation."
"The state fire marshal is looking into all the evidence that they have," he said.
A Celina police officer at about 1:10 a.m. saw fire and smoke coming from the north side of the dealership. Firefighters and trucks from Celina, Coldwater, Rockford and Montezuma fire departments responded to the scene, Lange told the newspaper.
"It was just very difficult to get to because it didn't penetrate the roof, so our ladder trucks, they were kind of useless, initially," Lange said.
Firefighters attempted to gain access to the north side of the building near an alley.
"The one entry door was no longer an entry, it was kind of boarded up, so it wasn't real good access on the other side beside four windows," Lange said. "So crews made entry on the south side."
Part of Kerns Chevrolet on South Walnut Street in Celina was demolished by the fire and the efforts to extinguish the inferno Wednesday morning.
Inside, a fire was raging on both floors of the building's north end. Firefighters sought out a staircase to gain access to the second floor.
"They did find one set of stairs, but it only got to just the south side of the upstairs," Lange recalled. "I guess there was a secondary staircase … up to the north side, but we were unable to locate that, and it looks like it's because the fire was so heavy, those stairs were actually destroyed."
Firefighters were ordered out of the building once the roof started to sag, Lange said.
"For safety purposes we pulled everybody out and went defensive," he said.
A track hoe excavator was used to tear down a portion of the building to give firefighters access to hot spots.
An excavator was brought in to tear down the south wall of the dealership, providing access inside the building. It also removed smouldering materials which firefighters then extinguished.
"Tearing down a wall, we were able to kind of break apart sections of the building to go ahead and extinguish those deep-seated fires," Lange said. "Our ladder trucks were able to do a downward stream and then also we had ground crews that could hit it with 2-inch hose lines."
Nitro's Towing moved four vehicles outside the building to make room for the excavator.
Firefighters remained on scene with the fire marshal until about 3 p.m. Wednesday, Lange said. The fire remains under investigation.
Rockford Firefighters assist in extinguishing a still smouldering building Wednesday morning.
"Everyone worked very well together, everyone worked hard," Lange said of the multi-department effort. "(We're) very blessed to have the surrounding departments that we do have that are willing to come assist us."
Also, the Fountain restaurant and Celina Monfort McDonald's provided coffee and sandwiches to first responders, according to the Celina Police Department.
Kerns Chevrolet on its Facebook page said it is "working out of our Kerns Ford store now until future accommodations are made."
"Thank you to our wonderful community for all your help today," the post reads. "Looking forward to continue serving the community whether temporary at the current time or a new building."
