Arson not suspected in fireworks fire

WAYNEDALE, Ind. (WANE) - According to Fort Wayne Fire Chief Pete Kelly, arson is not suspected as the cause of a fire at a fireworks store on Wednesday. The cause of the fire may never be determined because of the extent of the damage.

Firefighters were at Pyromaniac Fireworks located at 6708 Old Trail Road in Waynedale for about six and a half hours Wednesday.

The fire broke out at around 10 a.m. at Pyromaniacs.  The store hours are listed as 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Fort Wayne Fire Chief Pete Kelly said no one was inside.

Heavy smoke and flames were coming from the building when crews arrived on the scene. Because of the nature of the fire, crews could only fight the fire from outside the structure.  Their main concern was to protect buildings in the immediate area.   Firefighters have also had to stay further away from the building than they might normally because of detonating fireworks.

At one point there were 45 firefighters on the scene.

Owner of Pyromaniac Fireworks, Gary Graham, told NewsChannel 15 he lost about $50,000 of inventory. Graham's owned the business for nine years and it's been in that location for the last seven.

Kelly said the store's permit was renewed by the state in April 2009 and the Fort Wayne Fire Department inspected the store in June 2009 and found no violations.

"We were at the computer and heard a loud pop and noises and didn't know what was going on. We looked out the window and saw fireworks. You could see the colors of the fireworks flying out," Amy Mason, who lives next door to the store, said. "Our house was filling up with smoke, so we went outside."

Diana Johnson works at Something Old and Something New across the street from the fire and saw all the fire trucks passing her on her way to work.

"When I got to work I was thankful it wasn't my place, but I'm sorry to see anyone lose their property," Johnson said. "It's awful and exciting at the same time."

Tim Rodgers works next door to the fire and heard the alarm going off.

"There was a series of loud explosions and I came outside and there was smoke rolling out," Rodgers said. "When you work next to a fireworks store you always have it in the back of your mind that it could happen, but you don't expect it to happen."