E-Mail
Print
tool name
close
The exact contents of the brick building that burned Thursday at 218 Jefferson Street were not known, but many items sold by the two businesses housed there are designed to simulate fire, explosions and other special effects for stage and film.
Just over a week ago, firefighters responded to a burning metal storage container on the property. That fire is under investigation by the fire department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
On Thursday about 9:45 a.m., firefighters were called to the property again to fight a two-alarm blaze. As crews worked to get the fire under control, there was a series of explosions.
The blaze was contained about 1 p.m.
The building is home to Star Light & Magic, an online theater and stage special-effects supply store, and The Orlando Project, which sells products for strategic training and “realistic battleground scenarios,” according to Web sites for the businesses.
Sales lists on the Web sites for Star Light & Magic Inc., www.starlight.com, and The Orlando Project, www.theorlandoproject.com, include strobe flares, ground mortars, pyro gel, flame projectors and something called “The Volcano,” which can shoot color flames up to 6 feet high and runs on containers with “enough fluid to make approximately 100 flames,” the Web site says. Extensive purchasing regulations and safety procedures are also posted. Other items for sale or rent include fog machines, confetti, lights and a foam machine once used for the Girls of Summer Aerosmith video.
At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Lexington Fire Chief Robert Hendricks couldn't say for sure what caused the explosions. Along with the pyrotechnic equipment, there also could have been compressed gas of various types inside the building, which is found in many typical house fires, he said.
Wendy Wheeler Mullins, a part-time bookkeeper for the business, said pyrotechnics were not kept at the site, but sent from the manufacturer directly to the customer. But she said there were some flammable objects in the store.
Inspectors had been in the business before, but did not find any problems, Hendricks said. He added that inspectors had not been completely through the building Thursday.
Fire officials had yet to determine what caused Thursday's fire.
City officials said the business had passed inspections and was up to code.
According to records with the Kentucky secretary of state's office, Rémy Simpson is listed as the officer for Star Light & Magic and The Orlando Project.
A third business registered by Simpson, Pork Chop Properties LLC, has an Old Georgetown Street address.
A Star Light & Magic Inc. employee, whom neighbors identified as the owner, was at the scene of the fire, but he declined to speak with a Herald-Leader reporter.
On July 8, firefighters responded to a fire in a metal storage on the business property.
There is an open investigation connected to that incident, confirmed Richard Putnam, the resident agent in charge for the ATF's Lexington office. He did not disclose the contents of the shed, citing the investigation.
Mullins said some flammables were kept in the locked, metal storage unit for safety. She said she did not know how the storage unit caught fire.
@Nyx.CommentBody@