DATE: Thursday, May 29, 1997                TAG: 9705290417

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CINDY CLAYTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   56 lines

BEACH CABINET-MAKING SHOP DAMAGED IN 2-ALARM BLAZE

Nearly 50 firefighters worked for several hours Wednesday to put out a two-alarm blaze at a cabinet shop at the Airport Industrial Center off Northampton Boulevard.

Firefighters had to battle the fire at the Larson Joynes Cabinet Works, which occupies one of several bays inside a warehouse, from outside the building because part of the roof collapsed. The warehouse is located in the 5900 block of Thurston Ave.

No one was injured, said Batallion Chiefs Mike Wade and Chase Sargent.

Firefighters squirted water into the building from outside and from ladders stretched over the roof while the shop's owner, Larry Larson, and his family stood watching.

Businesses on either side of the cabinet shop were saved by fire walls, but were moderately damaged by water and smoke, Wade said.

Wade said the call for the fire was received at 9:52 a.m. Employees at the shop said they tried to shovel paint dust from around the flames and fight the fire themselves but were forced to give up when the smoke overwhelmed them.

``We were shoveling it for about 10 minutes,'' said Kalab Edwards, a cabinet maker. ``Finally, we just told everybody to clear out.''

Between 40 to 50 firefighters from the Virginia Beach Fire Department and the Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base extinguished the flames by 11:35 a.m. They worked into the afternoon to put out flare-ups on the roof.

Investigators could not get into the building to estimate damages or officially determine the cause of the blaze because of the danger posed by the unstable roof.

Edwards said he and other employees saw flames under an exhaust fan near some paint supplies. Edwards said varnish, paint thinners and other combustibles are stored inside the business.

While firefighters worked to cut down a section of the metal rolling door, thick, black clouds of smoke rolled out of the bay. Edwards said he and some other employees were examined by paramedics at the scene when their throats started burning, but no one was taken to the hospital.

Shop owners stood across the street and watched as steam poured out the big bay door.

``We're real fortunate, and hopefully we'll clean up and get back going,'' said Jim Spivey, owner of Star Imaging, an X-ray equipment company located next to the cabinet shop.

Rick and Susie Matthews, owners of Tom's, a snack and vending company located two bays away from the burned-out shop, stood with their arms around each other as they tried to survey the damage to their own shop.

Fortunately, they said, it looked like they were spared the worst of the damages. ILLUSTRATION: DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH/The Virginian-Pilot

Firefighters battle a two-alarm blaze Wednesday inside a warehouse

in the 5900 block of Thurston Ave. in Virginia Beach. The fire

started in Larson Joynes Cabinet Works, a custom cabinet shop. KEYWORDS: FIRE

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