Updated: Fire closes busy Winchester Road. Lexington officer spotted, reported smoke
More than 50 firefighters worked at an “advanced” structure fire amid a row of businesses on Winchester Road Friday.
The normally busy Winchester was shut down from about East Loudon to Liberty Road as smoke billowed into the air. The street, particularly the inbound lanes, was expected to be closed for several hours, officials said.
The fire at 941 Winchester was reported about 11:30 a.m. when a police officer in the area noticed heavy smoke arising from the building, Battalion Chief Jordan Saas said.
“Apparently, they were driving down the road, and they saw the smoke,” Saas said.
The fire was upgraded to a “working structure fire” immediately, and more fire trucks and personnel were quickly called to the scene because the fire had been burning for some time, Saas said.
“It took a while for it to start, it took a while for it to fill the building with smoke, and then it took a while for it to get big enough for somebody to notice it,” Saas said. “And so it had a really good head start on us.”
The “head start” the fire had is what prompted the large, two-alarm fire department response to gain control, Capt. Jessica Bowman said.
Saas said firefighters also had to run hoses more than 300 feet long, a challenge that also required more personnel on the scene.
Flames were visible once firefighters got inside the building, Bowman said.
Officials initially believed the fire had damaged only one building, but investigators were checking neighboring buildings to make sure they hadn’t been affected, Bowman said.
The building where the fire started is connected to another business, and the owners of the neighboring building said they had ash on their floors and furniture, according to WKYT, the Herald-Leader’s reporting partner.
The building that burned was previously home to a bar called Rumba Caliente. But Charles Ogle, a Lexington resident who lived nearby, said a business hadn’t occupied the building recently. Fire officials said they weren’t sure how the commercial building was used.
Fire officials didn’t immediately know if anyone was inside the building when the fire started. Officials were conducting secondary searches Friday afternoon, Saas said. No injuries had been reported.
Fire department officials hadn’t yet determined the fire’s cause, but the investigation had begun, Saas said. Investigators had to wait to begin until the building was well ventilated.
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This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 12:44 PM.