Fire breaks out at Old City Garage in Bluefield, WV

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (WVVA) - Shortly before 8 am this morning Bluefield Virginia and West Virginia fire departments responded to a 911 call in the city of Bluefield’s East End.

Explosions coming from the Old City Garage on Old Princeton Road awoke residents in the area. The truck repair shop was engulfed in flames. As of 11 am the fire had been extinguished-- but some residents expressed concern of chemicals being released into the air.

“They did store waste oil and new oil where it was an auto repair shop. We do have all of the chemicals contained at this time so that is not really an issue right now,” said City of Bluefield Fire Captain, Shannon Akers

We asked East End resident and city council member, Treyvon Simmons, what the loss of the structure could mean for his community.

”It definitely with the Grant Street Bridge being out, having a fire of this magnitude doesn’t help East End. But I definitely think

Simmons added that he believes East End is on the way towards revitalization in spite of recent issues thanks to federal funding. The West Virginia State Fire Marshalls are investigating what ignited the blaze at the Old City Garage, at the time of publishing they have not reported the cause.

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