A century old Scottsburg business was destroyed by fire last Wednesday, March 30. Eight fire departments battled the fire and high winds fanning the flames at the Vail True Value Lumber Company on Railroad Street just a block from the historic courthouse square.
The initial report of a fire came in around 10:30 p.m. and when fire crews arrived flames were seen coming through the roof of the structure.
“Once we saw the extent of the fire through the roof on this structure, we knew it was going to be hard to save it,” Scottsburg Fire Chief James Richey said, “so our main focus was to try to save the historic square which is less than 10 feet away from the other side.”
He said with assistance from several other fire departments, crews were able to extinguish the flames without any additional fire damage to neighboring buildings.
In addition to the Scottsburg Fire Department were fire companies from Vienna Twp, Austin, Johnson Twp, Monroe Twp, Deputy, Charlestown, and Crothersville.
No injuries were reported in the incident.
With Thursday morning’s light smoke was seen coming from charged wood and metal of the former building. No estimate of damage was available The state fire marshal’s office was called in to assist with the investigation of the cause of the fire.
In March 2020 Vail’s celebrated 100 years in business. Jack Pitts, the long-time owner of the business died at age 85 on Nov. 2, 2021.