Warehouse fire spread to roof of PTC Alliance

Between putting out the fire that destroyed a century-old warehouse early Wednesday morning and returning Thursday when it rekindled, firefighters went to the factory across the street to put out a fire they say the warehouse fire likely caused.

The cause of the initial fire remained undetermined, Alliance Fire Inspector Guy Aumend said.

Firefighters from at least 10 departments were called to the Alliance Wholesalers building at 321 Rush St. at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.

They were still dousing hot spots at 5 p.m. Wednesday in what had been three large brick buildings that stretched at least a block. The fire did about $200,000 damage to the building, which was mostly vacant.

A pest control business was leasing the office area with four trucks and a car parked in a nearby fenced area outside the building, and a Sebring man was storing a pickup, a motorcycle and a car in the buildings nearby garage.

While parts of a few walls remained standing, most of the structures were reduced to rubble.

The blaze also damaged PTC Alliance, a factory across the alley, Aumend said. Dozens of employees were evacuated from the factory, which manufactures steel tubing.

SPREADS TO NEARBY FACTORY

The Alliance Wholesalers fire was so hot it melted the blue or gray paint from the aluminum siding on the PTC buildings.

Hot embers carried far enough, Aumend said, that they landed on PTCs rubber roofing. The PTC factory is located at 640 E. Keystone St. but its buildings stretch from Keystone to Webb.

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Warehouse fire spread to roof of PTC Alliance