Fire damages building
Published Sept. 22, 2006
A commercial structure fire on Hillsdale Road was estimated to have caused more than $1 million in damage, according to the Columbia Fire Department. The fire damaged five businesses on Wednesday.
At the time of press, the cause of the fire had not been determined, but a fire department news release stated the fire started in one of the warehouses owned by Ex-Amish Specialties, located behind the main commercial structure at 600 Hillsdale Road.
The damage estimate of $1 million was made Wednesday afternoon following the fire and includes structure, contents and loss of business, according to the news release. Further estimates will take place for each business.
The release states an employee who arrived early for work alerted firefighters, who arrived on the scene at 4:29 a.m.
Ex-Amish Specialties had two 100-pound propane tanks and several smaller tanks stored, said Battalion Chief Steven Sapp, who compared the force of ignited liquid propane tanks to a blow torch.
During efforts to put out the fire, firefighters and businesses worked together to remove computers and records essential to business operations.