Cause of fire that destroyed downtown Dublin business listed as ‘undeterminded’

Officials believe they know where a fire that destroyed a downtown Dublin business Wednesday night began while listing the cause as “undetermined.”  

Dublin Fire Chief Matthew Cutler said the fire started in the back of Proline Commercial Services, 316 E. Jackson St., in the ceiling, with spray foam insulation contributing to the spread of the blaze. 

“The cause is undetermined while we were unable to rule out electrical,” he said. “The business was a total loss. The laundry mat and the BP (store) next door were both in close proximity and suffered some heat damage to the side, but we were able to keep the fire out.” 

Proline also had a warehouse behind its main building. Firefighters were able to keep the flames out of it, too.

“We hate that the business was significantly damaged and a lot of vehicles and equipment that was in the building were destroyed,” Cutler said.  

The building was released to the owner just before noon Thursday. 

The Dublin Fire Department started receiving calls about the blaze at 8:58 p.m. Wednesday. 

“When we arrived on scene we had heavy smoke and fire showing from the building,” Cutler said. “It had burning for some time before it was discovered.” 

Two other commercial structures and the large Georgia Power Co. lines directly beside the building were threatened by the fire. Cutler said firefighter called Georgia Power to cut the power to the building.

“Once they got on scene, we started talking about those power lines,” the chief said. “We had explosions at that fire from the vehicles and things inside the building. We were having difficulty controlling the fire because of the size of the fire. My primary responsibility was to ensure the safety of the firefighters. We had enough hazards without having to worry about the power lines. Once Georgia Power took care of that, it was not an issue. We try to be respectful and have them cut the power back on as soon as possible. With that size of a fire, it takes time to put it out.”

The city was also dealing with the effects from the 16-inch water main break that happened the previous day. At about 1 a.m. on Wednesday, Cutler received a call from Laurens County 911 to inform him that the city had no water.

“I had to start formulating a plan,” Cutler said. “We are used to having our hydrant system to rely on to put out fires. Thankfully during that time we did not have any fires. We already had some verbal agreements, conversations and things in place and we ended up using that plan (Wednesday) night.” 

Partnering agencies who responded were from Laurens County, East Dublin, Allentown, Johnson State Prison, Wrightsville Fire and Dodge State Prison. Dublin Manager City Josh Powell was glad the chief came up with a plan.

“It was in the back of my mind throughout the water main break,” Powell said. “I just didn’t want to think (a bad situation) up. The chief was aware of the situation with the water and had that in mind. Water pressure all over the system was different. They did a really good job coordinating that.” 

The fire department’s tower truck was set up in Proline’s parking lot and other fire engines surrounding the building. At some point during the fire, East Jackson Street was shut down.

“We had a lot of people and vehicles working on East Jackson, and we ended up shutting it down for a couple of hours,” Cutler said. “Since the power was out, we didn’t have traffic lights, so we really appreciated the Dublin Police Department and other agencies for helping us with all of that.” 

Laurens County EMS, Laurens County EMA Director Bill Laird and deputies from the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office were on hand to assist as well as other city department workers. 

“By the time I got there, the fire was pretty much out,” Powell said. “They were dealing with the aftermath of it. They got the fire out, nobody was injured and it didn’t spread. It was a successful endeavor. and we had a lot of crews from all over. The water construction superintendent and water plant employees who had worked with the water leak were all there. Some of them only had a short nap. We have the best employees. I’m proud of all they did to fulfill their duty to the city.”

A few firefighters were treated for dehydration.

“We had EMS on scene, and they provided care to them,” Cutler said. “They got them back to where they could continue with the fight.”

Dublin Mayor Joshua Kight discussed the fire at the beginning of Thursday’s noon City Council meeting.

“The fire crews worked really hard for about four hours to get that fire contained,” he said. “Our fire department had been proactive and had cooperative mutual aid agreements. They were able to come in and help put that fire out and make sure our firefighters were safe.” 

Anyone with information about the blaze is asked to call the Dublin Fire Department at (478) 277-5030.