Published: November 12, 2007 09:00 am         

Fire destroys local business

By David May
editor@mineralwellsindex.com

Fire ravaged a manufacturing business early Friday morning, putting it out of business for the foreseeable future.

Some 20 paid and volunteer firefighters from Mineral Wells responded to the 2 a.m. alarm at Advanced Tooling Inc. just north of the city limits in the 3600 block of U.S. Highway 281 North.

Owner Larry Thomas said it appears the large metal building – its roof and sides scarred and buckled from the intense heat – and the contents are a total loss.

“They are saying it damaged the foundation,” Thomas said. He estimated his loss at $500,000. The fire did not damage an adjacent frame office building.

No injuries were reported.

Thomas has owned the business about seven years, he said, moving it in May 2006 from Holly Hill Road.

The business employed seven people, manufacturing oil field parts and molding. Thomas said his employees would have to file for unemployment, saying he did not know if his insurance would cover wage losses.

He said he fully intends to rebuild his business at that location since he owns two lots there.

Deputy Fire Marshal Steve Perdue, who remained at the scene at 9 a.m. Friday after arriving shortly after 2 a.m., said the fire’s cause remains under investigation, though he added it is not suspicious. He said he called the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which conducted an investigation. Perdue said he called ATF as a matter of routine for a commercial fire.

Thomas said it appears the fire started in an office area built inside the manufacturing building, located on the north side of the structure. He said it looks as though the fire started in the area where computers were located.

“The theory is that it started in the computer room,” Thomas stated.