Lexington Fire Department says downtown building blaze sparked accidentally
The fire that devastated an old, multi-story office building at the corner of West Second and North Upper streets Thursday morning was sparked accidentally, according to the Lexington Fire Department.
“No criminal activity is suspected in the second alarm fire,” Maj. Jessica Bowman said.
Bowman said the next step is for investigators to contact insurance investigators. More details about the fire will be released after further investigation.
No one was injured but a few firefighters did suffer some bumps and bruises, according to Battalion Chief Chris Ward. The building suffered heavy damage and displaced multiple businesses, including the Lexington Writer’s Room.
The fire was first reported at 3:24 a.m. Thursday, Bowman said. The fire wasn’t completely under control until sometime between 7:30 and 8 a.m.
“When you have high winds like that it’s always a factor because it becomes a wind-driven fire,” Ward said. “So normally we can control the fire fairly quickly. Now you’ve got wind driving the fire and that just intensifies everything.”
This story was originally published April 1, 2022 at 11:42 AM.
