Several downtown Aiken businesses close after electrical fire

AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - A fire in downtown Aiken that broke out on Saturday was caused by electrical issues, according to a report from the Aiken Department of Public Safety.

Crews contained the fire, and while there were no injuries, businesses nearby took some damage.

Crews responded to reports of a possible two-story fire near Hayne Avenue and Laurens Street around 1:30 p.m.

The initial report was a caller hearing electrical popping noises and smoke inside the building at 311 Hayes Avenue. Once on scene, the fire was discovered at 309 Hayne Ave in the back storage room.

“At first, we didn’t know if anything survived up there. We were afraid the building was going to burn down,” said Jeffrey Rovenpor, Co-Owner of A Fox’s Tale.

The fire started and ended on Hayne Avenue, but the damage spread to multiple businesses.

“We were panicking. We have a lot of rare and antiquarian bookstores upstairs, and those look like a loss,” he said.

A Fox’s Tale lost numerous books that took years to collect.

“There were a lot of rare and valuable collections of letters, photograph albums, and materials that were earmarked to be sold to universities and libraries that were in kind of in line to be cataloged and put into different lists for libraries. And that looks like a loss,” said Rovenpor.

And with big events coming up such as Steeplechase and Masters, businesses are concerned about missing out.

From this incident, businesses near the fire have been posting on Facebook about the different damage they were hit with.

Clothing store, True Aiken, posted to their Facebook page saying they will be closed until further notice due to the smoke damage. “Tough day today. There was a fire in the office next to our space. Our store is still intact although we took on a lot of smoke damage as did several other stores in the building. It was heartbreaking to say the least to see the space that I have poured my heart into over the past several months full of smoke.”

A Fox’s Tale also posted to their Facebook page, mentioning they will also be closed until further notice, “Our shop has smoke damage and our books upstairs are probably a loss. Please keep everyone in your thoughts as a lot of businesses are affected by this.”

Now they’re picking up the pieces and hoping for continued from the community so they can get back to a new normal as soon as possible.

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