A building in downtown Shelby was destroyed by fire on Wednesday.
According to RichlandSource.com, the Shelby Fire Department received the call shortly after 2:30 pm for the property at 54 East Main Street. A large amount of smoke could be seen in the downtown area, as crews arrived on scene to find an advance and working fire.
Shelby Fire Chief, Mike Thompson, said, they made the decision to fight the fire from the outside, due to the unsafe interior conditions. A backhoe was used around 6 pm to tear down most of the building to extinguish the blaze.
Thompson stated the cold weather conditions were an issue, as equipment was freezing.
The structure, which was recently renovated with an event center downstairs and apartment upstairs, was unoccupied and no injuries were reported.
The owner said, he started an electric heater about 30 minutes before the fire to keep the pipes from freezing. He hopes to rebuild after the remainder of the structure is knocked down.