State fire marshal probes Highline Auto Works fire

SANDUSKY — The state fire marshal's office is trying to determine the cause of a fire that destroyed a Sandusky business, Highline Auto Works, 301 W. Perkins Ave.No cause has been found yet, said Captain Mario D'Amico, who led the effort to put out the blaze.The state fire marshal has cordoned off the area and planned to resume work as soon as Monday. State investigators are coordinating with as many as 11 insurance companies, D'Amico said, and are working with the Sandusky Fire Department. The dangerous fire that broke out about midnight Friday night and kept crews from four fire departments occupied for hours.Highline Auto Works is a business that customizes and upgrades vehicles by installing remote starts, car audio systems, new tires and other car equipment. "It leveled the place, pretty much," said Capt. Adam Butler of the Sandusky Fire Department. No one was hurt, even though flammable materials such as tires and oil drums fed the flames and even caused explosions. In addition, much of the building collapsed."We're very fortunate with all of those explosions going on, all of that collapsing," Butler said. The state fire marshal's office is investigating the cause of the fire. The call came in at 12:11 a.m. Saturday morning. Sandusky's fire department got mutual aid from the Huron, Margaretta and Perkins fire departments, and in all there were about 30 firefighters on the scene.Sandusky and Huron both had ladder trucks, and Perkins showed up with a deck gun with a big nozzle. To supply one of the ladder trucks, firefighters had to use 1,500 feet of hose."They threw all of the water they possible could throw at it," Butler said. Butler provided a couple of illustrations of how large and dangerous the fire was.Butler came in from Norwalk after off duty firefighters were paged to come in. "I could see smoke from Monroeville," he said. "It looked like a nuclear bomb hit Sandusky."There was a broken gas line on fire in front of the building. The gas company wanted to shut it off, but firefighters were worried a wall would fall on the gas company crew."We let that gas line burn for a couple of hours," Butler said. Finally, an excavator was called to the scene to push the wall back so the line could safely be shut down, he said. The incident commander, D'Amico, originally responded to the fire intending to send firefighters into the building to put down the blaze. D'Amico quickly realized that would be too dangerous and deployed his men at the corner of the buildings where they could avoid getting hit, Butler said.It was clear the roof was likely collapse, and it did. The fire finally came under control between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. but was still smoldering Saturday afternoon."There is still a crew out there right now," Butler said at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Perkins Avenue had to be closed.Sandusky city street crews worked hard to get the street open again, coming out early Saturday morning to clear away rubble and salt the ice that covered the street from all of the water the firefighting crews had to use. Much of the work already had been done by 8 a.m., Butler said.Butler said he expects firefighting crews will have to keep checking the building and said he wouldn't be surprised if it continued producing light smoke.A Sandusky Police Department report said that the owner of the business, Anthony Lewis, told police he had been working on a vehicle at the business about an hour before he was called about the fire. Lewis told police everything was fine when he left the business. Highline Auto Works was founded in 2006, according to the business' website. A fire burns inside Highline Auto Works on Perkins Avenue early Saturday morning. Flames shoot out of Highline Auto Works at the corner of Perkins Avenue and Caldwell Street in Sandusky early Saturday morning.Huron firefighters work to extinguish a fire at Highline Auto Works at Perkins Avenue and Caldwell Street in Sandusky early Saturday morning.Flames shoot out of Highline Auto Works on the corner of Perkins Avenue and Caldwell Street in Sandusky early Saturday morning.Flames engulf Highline Auto Works early Saturday morning on Perkins Avenue.Trash in a dumpster catches fire as firefighters work to extinguish a fire at Highline Auto Works on the corner of Perkins Avenue and Caldwell Street in Sandusky early Saturday morning.Flames engulf Highline Auto Works early Saturday morning on Perkins Avenue.A Perkins firefighter uses engine 224 to put out the flames of a fire at Highline Auto Works on Perkins Avenue in Sandusky early Saturday morning.Huron firefighters use a ladder truck to extinguish the flames of a fire at Highline Auto Works on Perkins Avenue and Caldwell Street in Sandusky early Saturday morning.