Yesterday’s fire at a body shop in Spencer required the assistance of 16 fire companies from three counties. The call for the fire originally came in around 7:30 Monday morning, and crews from Tioga, Tompkins, and Chemung counties were all at the scene.
The fire was started when a motorist swerved to avoid an accident in front of Walter’s Body Shop on Ithaca Road. The car crashed into a telephone pole, which brought high voltage primary lines down onto the body shop, causing that structure to start on fire. Firefighters had to wait for NYSEG crews to shut off the power to the area before they could start to put the fire out. There were several cars in and around the body shop at the time of the fire, as well as a full fuel-oil tank, large propane tank and lots of paint products which added to the fire. The body shop was a total loss, and a nearby home suffered heat damage as well. No one was injured as a result of the fire, or the crash. Firefighters were on scene most of the day.
