Bedford County strip mall destroyed by fire

11:04 p.m.

VDOT says all lanes of Rt. 221 are back open.

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10:30 p.m.

A devastating end to the day for business owners, as their shops went up in smoke.

According to customers on the scene, the Jefferson Business Center was home to five stores:

• A Farm Bureau Insurance office
• A Nail Salon
• Healthy Inspirations (A weight loss center)
• I.C. Studios (A Tattoo parlor)
• Blackwater Creek (A bicycle shop)

Carla Musgrove told WSLS that she was getting a tattoo, when the flames broke out.  Musgrove, and workers at the other businesses say the fire started on the back porch of the bicycle shop.

“A lady from the Goodwill (Store is next to the shopping center) told us the back of the building was on fire.  The back deck was in flames, so we all ran out of the building.“

The good news, no one was hurt in the fire.  The bad news, every store is a total loss.

Fire investigators say their search for what sparked the fire will have to wait until all of the hot spots are knocked down.

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10:25 p.m.

By Dave Thompson
Lynchburg News & Advance

What started as a porch fire Saturday afternoon quickly escalated into large blaze that incinerated several Forest businesses, according to Bedford County fire officials.

The blaze took out the entire Jefferson Business Center on U.S. 221, billowing black smoke over the road for more than an hour and leaving just a skeleton of the businesses that just hours earlier were serving customers.

Crews shut down all lanes of U.S. 221 between Graves Mill Road and Cottontown Road for most of the evening. They remained closed past 8:30 p.m., Styles said.

Forest Fire Department Chief Todd Styles said the blaze, which began on the back porch of one of the businesses, was reported to dispatchers at 5:55 p.m.

Crews arrived at the scene just seven minutes after the call, Styles said, but were unable to do anything to save any of the businesses.

The center housed a Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance location, Scene3 skate shop, California Nails II nail salon, Blackwater Bicycles, a Healthy Inspirations fitness center and a tattoo parlor.

Many, whose lives will be affected by Saturday’s blaze, were there to witness it.

Julie Pham, whose family owns the Hollywood Nails II salon, said she was in her building, working with a customer when the fire started.

“My husband … thought he saw smoke, and then he smelled something funny,” she said.

“He said ‘be ready, we may have to leave.’”

Pham said she didn’t initially think anything was going to happen, so she went back to work.

But when the fire hit their building, she, her daughter and husband, as well as the two customers inside, got out as quickly as they could.

Not two minutes after they got out of the building, she said, the flames had reached the roof.

“I just can’t believe something could go up that fast,” she said.

Styles said it’s not surprising that all of the businesses burned down once the fire had a chance to get going.

“The way these office buildings are, if it gets into the roof system … it’s very hard to stop, because it’s going to go from one end of the building to the other,” Styles said.

Jeff Gray, who operates Scene 3, said the skate shop was his family’s only source of income.

“I was the sole breadwinner,” he said.

His wife, Sarah, stays at home with their two children, 10-month-old Lily and 3-year-old Lance.

Gray was just getting ready for lunch when he heard about the blaze.

“Someone called me and said ‘your shop’s on fire,’” Gray said.

For Gray, the situation is more devastating because he didn’t have insurance on his merchandise, and was just about ready to move to a new location on Kemper Street.

That location, he said, was supposed to be ready about a week ago, but they were in the process of putting the finishing touches on it.

“Luckily, I wasn’t ordering a lot of product, as we were moving,” he said.

“We have a new location, just nothing for it,” Sarah Gray said.

Gray estimated his loss at about $20,000, and said he didn’t know what it would take to get back in business.

“Maybe do a fundraiser,” he said. “A big one.”

As of 8:30 p.m., some crews were clearing up, but Styles said there was still a lot of work to do to make sure there would be no more flare-ups.

At that time, he said it could take until about 11 p.m. for the road to reopen, as firefighters needed to use hydrants on different water mains, so as not to steal water pressure from each other.

Units from the Forest Fire Department, Brookville-Timberlake Volunteer Fire Company, Bedford Fire Department, Boonsboro Volunteer Fire Company, Goode Rescue Squad and the Campbell County Rescue Squad responded.

Styles estimated the fire personnel on the scene between 50 and 60 people.

Pham said despite the damage, she’s grateful that the fire didn’t take any human lives.

“I don’t know where I’m working on Monday,” she said, “but luckily I’m okay, and nobody got hurt, so that’s the main thing.”

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8:20 p.m.

From Ashley Roberts, in the field
WSLS Reporter

Forest Fire Dept. Chief Todd Styles said they were originally called for a fire on a back porch of a business, but wasn’t certain which business.  Styles adds that firefighters were originally told that someone was trapped inside a store, but that later turned out to be wrong.

Styles says all five of the businesses are a total loss.

I.C Studios owner Jay Pannell says he saw a fire on the back deck of the bicycle shop, but it was small and not many flames at all.

Pannell said he had been in the shopping center for three or four months, and has insurance.

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7:55 p.m.

From Ashley Roberts, in the field
WSLS Reporter

I just spoke with Carla Musgrove, who said she was inside I.C. Studios getting a tattoo before the fire.  Carla told me a woman ran over from the nearby Goodwill store and warned about a fire burning in the back of the building.

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7:45 p.m.

From Ashley Roberts, in the field
WSLS Reporter

Bedford County Fire Chief Jack Jones tells me five stores burned.  A sign at the strip mall reads “Jefferson Business Center.“

Chief Jones adds that the flames sparked around 5:55 p.m., and the first firefighters made it on scene at 6:02 p.m.

Jones said firefighters are still looking through the building as of 7:40 p.m., and that all of the owners of vehicles in the parking lot had been accounted for.

Investigators are trying to figure out what sparked the flames, and Chief Jones said it’s possible that it could’ve been a small fire at the back of the building that started the inferno.

I spoke with two women nearby who said the strip mall had a Farm Bureau Insurance Agency office, a bicycle shop, a nail salon, and a store named “Healthy Inspirations” among its tenants.

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7:30 p.m.

Pictures from WSLS Reporter Ashley Roberts, who is on the scene.  She is waiting to speak with the Chief of the fire department.

All four lanes of Route 221 still blocked.

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6:18 p.m.

A strip mall is burning in Bedford County, near the Lynchburg City line, according to our newsroom at the Lynchburg News & Advance.

The fire is off of Rt. 221, just north of its intersection with Graves Mill Road.

Click here for map

VDOT has closed all lanes of Rt. 221 near Cottontown Road (click here for map).

Both Bedford County and Lynchburg City firefighters are on the scene.

More information as it becomes available.