LEWISTON — Fire engulfed a Center Street building between 7th and 8th streets Wednesday morning, heavily damaging three small businesses and apartments above them.
The businesses are Sue’s Frame of Mind, the Vintage Barber, and Soully Created International Clothing Boutique.
Lewiston Fire Department was dispatched to a reported transformer fire at 746 Center St. at 6:08 a.m. The fire spread to the nearby building and, due to adverse weather conditions, five other fire companies (Upper Mountain, Youngstown, Ransomville, Niagara Falls and Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station) were summoned to assist.
Lewiston Fire Company No. 1 Chief Spencer Lilly said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Nobody was inside the building when firefighters arrived at the scene. No firefighters were injured while putting the fire out, he added.
Lilly said rain, winds from the south pushing flames throughout the building, and the materials used in various building remodeling jobs over the years — such as three layers of drywall — were some of the challenges that firefighters had to deal with.
“A combination of all those things, and with many hallways, hidden rooms, and stuff like that, makes the fire attack difficult,” Lilly said.
There was a lot of focus on the second floor because the fire reached it very quickly, while firefighters getting up there proved to be treacherous. Aerial lifts were employed to get at the flames.
“The roof could have collapsed,” Lilly said. “There was a possibility for it. We took all precautions to make sure that it didn’t collapse on any of our crew members.”
Neighboring Vincenzo’s Pizza House was saved from damage.
Lynn Stephens, whose son Aaron owns The Vintage Barber, said when she pulled up to the building at 7:30 a.m. to get the shop ready, the whole building was in flames.
“At this point, we’re just gonna have to call the insurance company,” Stephens said.
Sue Sullivan, the owner of Sue’s Frame of Mind, said she did not know how much damage there is to her store, which has been anchored on Center Street since December 2009. She found out about the fire when one of her fellow tenants called her at 7:30.
Artwork orders that Sullivan was working on, and her equipment, were inside, and considering the smoke damage, water damage and the fact that the ceilings are close to coming down, Sullivan said she’s not sure whether she can continue her work.
“I have no idea of what tomorrow will bring,” she said, adding that she would like to continue working on any projects that can be salvaged.
The fire is under investigation by the Niagara County Origin and Cause Team and Town of Lewiston fire investigators. Determination of the cause could take up to a couple of days, according to Lilly.