Columbus Fire battles overnight fires

Columbus Fire & EMS said they are investigating three structure fires reported between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

The latest incident happened at the Bobby Stevens Hauling Contractor in Fortson, Ga. There was an explosion at the 3223 Smith Road shop, but no one was harmed, according to authorities.

Investigators haven't determined what caused the explosion, Fire Marshal Ricky Shores said Wednesday.

Officials said Wednesday morning they aren't sure what caused the incident, but it left behind more than $200,000 worth of damage. The 63-year-old family business will be closed pending repairs, said Mike Stevens, the company's vice president.

Shores said there was a dump truck parked outside of the building that also caught fire. The family arrived at the shop Wednesday morning and saw a flame burning, Stevens said.

"When my son got here at 6 o'clock this morning to open the gate, it was just a small fire up under the truck," Stevens said. "They said it just had burned itself out, so we didn't see all the raging and all of that."

Stevens said his parents heard one or two loud booms Tuesday night, but they assumed that it was just the thunderstorm. He said he had a tough time breaking the news to them the following morning, because they started the business with the only money they had at the time.

"We're in the third generation of something Daddy and Mama started with $1,500," Stevens said. "We're thankful that they did, because it's given us all jobs down through the years."

Stevens said Tuesday's incident is just an example of life's disappointments, but that good days are ahead.

"If you live long enough, you're going to have some good days and some bad days," Stevens said. "It's not whether you have good or bad days, it's how you react to the bad days."

The Bobby Stevens Hauling Contractor wasn't the only structure that caught fire overnight. Columbus Fire had a busy night with two other fires across town.

Around 8:45 p.m., Frank's Collision Center at 4754

Warm Springs Road had 17 vehicles that had various degrees of damage from a fire.

A firefighter suffered a minor injury while entering the center, Shores said.

The building sustained significant damage, but is not considered a total loss, Shores said.

He said he believes the business may be closed for a significant amount of time.

There was another fire at an apartment complex at 1425 24th St., where a woman suffered from second-degree burns to her arm and hip and was transported to Midtown Medical Center via ambulance.

The call came in around 5:31 a.m., Shores said. There was $20,000 worth of damage to the apartment and $5,000 worth of damage to its content, he said.

Investigators don't believe the incidents are related, the fire marshal added.

— Sarah is a crime and safety reporter at The Ledger-Enquirer. You can contact her on Twitter at @SarahR_92.

This story was originally published September 9, 2015 at 10:11 PM with the headline "Columbus Fire battles overnight fires ."