Firefighters from several areas were called to Holmes Store in Williamsville around 9 p.m. Monday to battle a blaze that ultimately left the building a pile of burning rubble.
The historic building, which housed Holmes Store, has stood in Williamsville since the 1800s according to Wayne County Sheriff Dean Finch and several other onlookers.
The fire, according to Finch, started in the store area, “there was someone home in the apartment side, but by the time the fire spread they had plenty of time” to escape. There were no injuries, but the business, which was vital to the people of Williamsville, was a total loss.
“I worked at this store, we left here at 8:30 last night and closed the store, I was back around in the feed room and I didn’t smell any smoke or anything, but by 9:15 we got the call that it was on fire,” said Williamsville Fire Chief Bruce Street, “By the time I got here the floor in that upstairs apartment had already fallen down.
“We pumped the city water tank almost dry and then we got 60,000 gallons out of Black River,” said Street.
“It’s a very sad day — the original Holmes, his son was killed in Vietnam, his ribbons and medals and things were still on the wall,” said area resident Doug Eisenbeis.
“I was raised here, that store has been up and running since the ’60s,” said area resident, Wade Faraone, “they had a small selection of hardware, a little bit of everything, that is where everyone here went to get their milk and bread, now they have to drive a half hour.” Speaking to others the sentiment was the same, everyone was tired from battling the blaze all night and sad to see a historical sight gone so quickly.
“It’s our only grocery store so it’s definitely devastating, but it’s a historical building too,” said area resident and local gas station owner Beatrice Abbott.
Nearly every fire department in the county was called to the scene.
“We had of course Williamsville (fire) department, Piedmont City, Piedmont Rural, Van Buren, Ellsinore, Butler County, Cherokee Pass and Farmington,” said Finch. “We could not get the apartments, we were pumping water on it, but we couldn’t get it under control, so I made the decision to call in Farmington and they sent two tanker trucks. After that, we put another — I don’t know how many thousands of gallons on it, we had five or six trucks we sent to Markham Springs — finally we just said let it burn.”
“It is devastating for this town,” said Finch, “but I think they will build it back.”
Wes and Nicole Owens are the owners of the property. The state fire marshall has been called in to investigate the cause of the fire.