DAYTON — A fire caused thousands in damage to two businesses in Dayton on Thursday.
As reported on News Center 7 at 5, just before 10 a.m., crews were called to the residential side of the Dayton Arcade.
>> PHOTOS: Fire damages downtown apartment, multiple businesses
“It smelled like plastic was burning, it smelled wrong, there was black smoke just pouring out the door,” Bryan Blair said.
Blair works at the Arcade, and he noticed water pouring outside the iHeartMedia studios on the second floor.
He ran to the third floor, where a hallway near a corner apartment was filled with smoke.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Missing 24-year-old woman found ‘safe,’ police say
- ‘Keep your mouth closed;’ Kings Island visitors joined by thousands of cicadas
- Missing 24-year-old woman found ‘safe,’ police say
“Went ahead and kicked the door in and then I went through with a flashlight, yelling out their name, trying to find anyone or anything,” Blair said.
He said the smoke was so thick he had to feel for beds to make sure no one was unconscious.
Blair called the fire department and others as soon as he knew the apartment was empty.
Firefighters arrived on scene and saw the flames had been put out by the building’s sprinkler system.
“It does appear right now that the alarm was in test mode because they were working on the system. So we didn’t receive a smoke alarm like we normally would,” Dayton Fire District Chief Andrew Wiley said.
That is a small delay, allowing more water to follow.
Fire investigators estimated $200,000 of damaged equipment in iHeart.
IHeart will be relocated to a temporary space within the Hub, according to a media release by an Arcade spokesperson.
Table 33 was also briefly shut down to clean up water problems, but is now fully operational.
News Center 7 asked the fire department about the cause of the fire and were directed to police.
We have reached out to police, who said it is too early to discuss this case.
We will continue to follow this story.
[SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]