CANTON, Ohio — The Canton Fire Department was called to a commercial building fire in the 2300 block of 13th Street NW around 4:15 a.m. Thursday.
When firefighters arrived, the building was heavily involved in fire.
"During the fire, they heard several explosions and it did affect the intensity," said Division Chief Steve Henderson.
There were no injuries, but two businesses—Stark Trailer and Dad's Deal's Discount Store— were heavily damaged.
Tod Yackey, who owns the business that manufactures utility trailers and car haulers, said he moved into the building five months ago.
The fire destroyed everything Yackey used for the business, including welding equipment and eight trailers.
"We started it from nothing. It's devastating because that's everything we have," Yackey said.
Fred Wilkinson, owner of the discount store, opened up for business in the building a few month ago.
He said the blaze destroyed all of his merchandise in a warehouse. He believes a fire wall saved the store, but it did sustain smoke and water damage.
Fighting back tears, Wilkinson said he got a call at 4 a.m. telling him there was a fire.
"I saw the flames. I literally got sick. A lot of good people put a lot of hard work in here," Wilkinson said.
Henderson said the cause of the fire hasn't been determined, but investigators are working to figure that out.
"In a fire like this, you start out and you try to find a point of origin and then you try to look for any ignition sources," he said.
