Terrace said significant damage was done to the first floor, where the shop is located. A living area that was being remodeled remains in good shape, he said. No one was living in the rear section of the building.
The 100-year-old building has been added onto several times, Terrace said, and that makes fighting fires there difficult because of the newer construction and different materials used on each addition.
Occupants tried to use fire extinguishers, but quickly got out of the building when their attempt failed, the lieutenant said.
Michael Butler, who described himself as a person who hangs out in the shop with one of the employees, said, “I started smelling smoke. I noticed it getting stronger as I walked toward the back of the shop.”
Butler said he saw a glowing door. Things grew worse from that point. “I opened up the door real slowly and the entire back room was on fire,” he said.
Butler, who said he got everyone who was in the shop out to safety, described the fire as smelling as though the cause could be been electrical. No word from Terrace about Butler’s assessment of a possible cause.
“Hopefully,” Butler said, the shop where records and memorabilia and tapestries and clothing are sold “will be back up and running in a couple of months.”
FIRST REPORT
Crews are battling a fire at the 70’s Rock Shop, a musical instrument store, 101 S. Main St.
DVDs and videos are also sold there, according to its Facebook page, and there are apartments in the same building.
Crews were dispatched sometime before 6 p.m. on a report of heavy smoke showing from the two-story dwelling.
We have a crew on scene. We will update this report as we get information.