The Ott family was busy on Tuesday (Nov. 22) cleaning up the aftermath of a fire in a back room at Ott Automotive in Cedar Hill.
The car repair shop, at 8115 S. Industrial Drive, sustained some smoke and fire damage Monday night (Nov. 21), when “something malfunctioned around a wood furnace” in a room addition at the back of the building, Assistant Fire Chief Greg Shuster of the Cedar Hill Fire Protection District said.
Most of the damage, however, was contained to the back room where wood that was cut and stacked for the furnace caught fire, he said.
“There was some fire and smoke damage in the repair shop, but a small amount,” Shuster said.
At 5:19 p.m., the Cedar Hill Fire Protection District received a call about smoke in the commercial building. When they arrived, they found smoke coming from the rear of the building, Shuster said.
A couple of people were still inside the building trying to put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher, he said.
Firefighters were able to knock down the flames in about 10 minutes, Shuster said.
They then had to clear the building of smoke and clean up.
“We were tied up for a while removing debris,” Shuster said.
The last firetruck left the scene at about 6:58 p.m., he said.
Tools and cars and most of the building came through unscathed, building owner Brian Ott said.
He said today that they are still answering phones and scheduling jobs, but he and his son, who’s also named Brian and owns the business, will be cleaning up for the next few days.
“We’ve cancelled most of the big jobs for this week,” he said.
The Otts plan to meet with the insurance company and a contractor Wednesday (Nov. 23). The business will return to regular hours of business on Monday (Nov. 28), Ott said.
Firefighters from the St. Clair, Eureka, High Ridge, Goldman and Hillsboro fire protection districts assisted with the call. The Big River Ambulance District also helped.
Firefighters from the Antonia Fire Protection District moved into Cedar Hill’s 1 House, Shuster said.