Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 21, 1994 TAG: 9401210050
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BENT MOUNTAIN LENGTH: Medium
It's where you go on cold days when you've run out of bread and milk, and where you take the kids for ice cream on hot summer nights.
And it's where you hang around for a few extra minutes to talk about important things in life - cars, lost dogs, the weather and who's going out with whom.
But it's gone now.
Wednesday night, seemingly in defiance of the subfreezing temperature, a fire gutted the store. No one was hurt, and no one knows for sure what happened.
All day Thursday, folks from this south Roanoke County community cruised past, pulling into the icy parking lot off U.S. 221 to gaze in wonder at the sight.
"The last time I was up here, I got a carton of cigarettes and six-pack of beer," said Dick Combs. "It's kind of freaky to see it this way."
Water from the firefighters' hoses had frozen, and the blackened ruins were encased in ice. Charred jars lined a row of shelves, and smoldering embers sent puffs of smoke skyward.
"This was just our own country store, you know," Allen Nicholas said. His kin live a mile away, and he lives about 10 miles from the store, which had served this community for 30 years.
"It really hurts you to see something like this happen. It was just like home to me," Nicholas said.
Roanoke County Fire Capt. Tom Bier said an investigation into the cause will begin Monday, when a crane is available to lift the damaged roof off the building.
Firefighters from six Roanoke County stations, aided by crews from adjacent Floyd County, battled the fire for five hours. A new hydrant installed in March had frozen, Bier said, so crews broke through several inches of ice at a pond behind the store and pumped water to douse the flames.
Firefighters worked in shifts, and sought relief from the frigid air in a heated Fire Department vehicle. "I would imagine they were right cold," Bier said.
Bobby Belcher, night manager at the store, had closed and locked it up about 8:30. He said he turned the thermostat down and turned off electrical appliances.
At home a couple of hours later, he saw the fire on the 11 o'clock news.
"I about had a heart attack," Belcher said. "I'm just totally in disbelief, really."
He, too, drove to the store Thursday afternoon to look at the wreckage with his wife and two young daughters. Belcher had worked at the store for about five months after moving from Montana. In that short time, the regulars had become more than customers - they are now his friends, he said.
"That's the kind of atmosphere here - down to earth," Belcher said. "I don't know what to say. I got to find me a job."
The store's owner, Tony Montuori, bought the business six years ago. Along with the store, Montuori raises livestock and owns New York Pizza in Vinton.
He made hot dogs, rented videos and stocked the items most country stores do. It was a community spot, a place where everybody went, he said.
Montuori had heard from a neighbor Wednesday that the fire trucks were at the store. By the time he got there half an hour later, there was nothing he could do.
Watching the flames engulf his business, Montuori said his first thought was that no one was hurt.
"Everything you lose. That's part of life." He wants to rebuild the store, and will, he said, if things work out.
by CNB