NORTH BAY -- With black smoke and ash pouring out of the building, Midas Co-owner Patsy ONeil watched her store go up in flames.
"We just lost everything," she said with tears in her eyes. "My son works here too and he’s lost his job. Everything we’ve got in that store is just gone."
Fire crews were called to the automotive shop on Main Street East at 10:49 a.m. on Monday with all three stations responding to the emergency.
"Upon arrival, we had heavy fire inside the building, thick black smoke," said Fire Chief Jason Whiteley. "We were dealing with two employees who were injured because of the fire. We immediately went to defensive operations because of the nature of this building, being an automotive service garage, with the amount of flammable liquids, oils, acetylene tanks that we’re dealing with inside the building."
Only two injuries have been reported at this time.
"My husband and my son went to the hospital," ONeil said. "They’re okay, they just got a few minor [injuries] on their body and I don’t know much more right now."
ONeil says she has owned the North Bay store for 12 years and this loss is devastating.
What caused the fire is still undetermined.
"They were working on a car to bring a gas tank down to put a pump in it," ONeil said. "After that, I don’t know what happened because I left the store."
As of noon, crews were still at the scene trying to get the fire under control.
"We’ve got a stubborn firefight in the office area right now because it’s in the false ceiling there," Whiteley said. "So between the roof and the finished ceiling, and because we haven’t been able to get inside the building as of yet, it’s making it a little more difficult. We do now have the upper hand on the fire, but we’ll be a while still."
No other structures have been affected by the fire.
