Antiques Destroyed by Fire on Ellinger Rd.

A fire on Ellinger Road just outside La Grange destroyed several sheds and storage buildings filled with antiques on Wednesday, March 15.

La Grange Volunteer Fire Department got the call around 4:40 p.m. reporting a structure fire in the 1000 block of E. SH 71 Business (Ellinger Rd.). The property is located between Supak Building Supply and the SH 71 Bypass.

La Grange Fire Chief Frank Menefee said firefighters began their attack on the east side of the burning structures to protect a neighboring home with a propane tank just across the fence. The wind helped their efforts by fanning the flames away from the neighbor’s property. Firefighters were able to contain the blaze to a group of sheds and storage buildings.

“There were filled with some antiques they were fixing to sell, tools, and a bunch of miscellaneous stuff,” Menefee said. “They were accumulating some of that stuff for an antique sale.”

An air compressor and a motorcycle were also destroyed in the fire. A resident who lives on the property told investigators that he was burning trash in a barrel earlier that day. The resident said he thought the fire had burned out. Menefee said he believed that a gust of wind swirling through the series of buildings spread some burning embers that ignited the structures.

La Grange Volunteer Fire Department responded with a fire engine, a tanker, two quick response trucks and a command vehicle along with 12 firefighters. Menefee requested assistance from the Ellinger Volunteer Fire Department, and they responded with a tanker and eight firefighters. Tankers had to shuttle water from La Grange since there were no fire hydrants that far out of town. Menefee said the two departments dumped about 13,000 gallons of water on the fire by the time they put it out. The last units left the scene just before 7 p.m.

It wasn’t the first time La Grange VFD put out a fire at this property. In May of 2018, the property owners lost a barn after a fire spread from a burn barrel.

The property is located just outside the City Limits and not subject to the general ban on burning in the City of La Grange. Fayette County does not currently have a burn ban in place. However, Menefee said wind on Wednesday and conditions at the property made it very dangerous for burning. Menefee said the burn barrel that started the fire was positioned too close to the structures.

“It needs to be at least 60 or 70 feet away from a structure,” Menefee said. “With the wind blowing the way it was, they shouldn’t have been burning anything.”

Menefee said anyone setting a fire needs to pay attention to their surroundings.

“Keep up with the weather,” he said. “If you light a fire now, what’s the weather going to be like in two hours from now?”