Crews secure scene of 'suspicious' fire

The flames have been extinguished, but crews from Hillsboro Fire and Rescue will stay on scene throughout the night to make sure the possible crime scene at the former Highland Enterprise remains secured. 

Hillsboro Fire and Rescue is calling the fire at the former lumber yard "suspicious," and the Ohio State Fire Marshal's Office has begun an investigation into the blaze that took departments from three counties to extinguish.

The fire broke out just after 3 p.m. Sunday in the 200 block of West Main Street and quickly spread through the structures on the property. It was reported that the smoke could be seen from areas as far away as Greenfield, Buford, Winchester and Owensville. 

Capt. Jeff Martin, of Hillsboro Fire and Rescue, said that most of the flames had been knocked down by 7 p.m. and that crews began returning to their respective stations at that time. 

"It is suspicious," Martin said. "We have eyewitness accounts. The state fire marshal's office is investigating. We have the area secure at this point, and we will continue (Monday)." 

Witness at the scene reported that individuals in their late teens or early 20s were seen running from the area of the lumber yard just minutes before smoke began showing in the structures. Martin said that HFR has heard those reports, but they have not yet been confirmed. 

"That is what we're hearing, but we have not confirmed that yet," Martin told The Highland County Press late Sunday evening. "We've been told that maybe someone was seen fleeing from the scene, but that's only speculation at this point. We haven't talked to all the eyewitnesses yet.

"The investigators are still talking, and we haven't sat down and gone through all our notes yet. (Monday) we'll go through the pictures that were taken of the scene, and things of that nature, and pinpoint where it started, and continue with the investigation from there." 

There were no major injuries reported from the incident, although there was concern when a wall collapsed onto a firefighter. He escaped injury. However, another firefighter was treated at the scene by a squad after he apparently became overheated, according to Martin. 

Speedway turned off their gas pumps as a safety precaution out of fear the heat or stray embers could spark. Community Markets (Great Scot), located across the street from Highland Enterprise, sustained some minor damage to the roof.

"Some hot embers did some damage to their roof, but I think it was minor damage," Martin said. "The management said they were pleased with the response, and we had a Greenfield truck go up from the scene to the roof to put it out and to monitor it." 

All Highland County fire stations - from Hillsboro, Greenfield, Leesburg, Lynchburg, Mowrystown, Marshall and Brushcreek - responded to the scene or with station coverage, and departments from Adams County and Clinton County also provided assistance. The Highland County Emergency Management Agency provided lights and other equipment assistance.

"Everyone did a tremendous job working together on this," Martin said. "It's nice that we are trained as a county department. The whole county jumped right in and knew what to do. There wasn't even much radio traffic. Everyone just jumped in and did a fantastic job."

Martin said that he was in constant contact with the Hillsboro Water Department to make sure that there was enough to fight the fire, while not disrupting water service to Hillsboro residents. 

"They were able to keep up with our demand. We did tax our system to a certain degree," Martin said. "I was on the phone with Jim Herdman with the city water office to make sure no residents were without water, and that they were able to keep up with our demand. Lynchburg set up a dump tank, which was a tremendous help. We did call for more water pressure at one point, but after positioning engines throughout the city attached to hydrants, we were able to balance the need out."

Electrical services were disrupted to some Hillsboro residents as crews battled the fire. Once the area of the fire was isolated and the electricity no longer posed a safety issue, Martin said that American Electric Power restored services to the rest of the city. 

Martin said that the property owner has been contacted. 

"We've talked to the owners, and they're understanding of our situation and needing to have manpower there. We have units down there now that will remain through the rest of the evening to make sure everything is in check," Martin said.

Property owner Darrell Tissot told The Highland County Press he was just glad there were no serious injuries. "The important thing is nobody got hurt," he said. "Everything else is just 'stuff,' and we call get over that."