Fire strikes Axemann Road business

A massive fire engulfed Gray’s Vehicle Clinic on Axemann Road in Bellefonte late Thursday afternoon.

By 5 p.m., the fire was still not under control.

According to officials, no one was inside the structure, but the building has sustained excessive damage.

With smoke billowing from the entryway to the warehouse-style building, firefighters fought the blaze from a small hill along a driveway in front of the structure.

Firefighters from numerous departments including Alpha, Spring, Pleasant Gap, Undine, Walker and Bellefonte collaborated to fight the fire.

According to neighbors and police, this isn’t the first time Gray’s Vehicle Clinic has faced this occurrence.

“Gray’s Vehicle Clinic burned down once before in 1993. The structure that continues to burn on 1314 Axemann Road was built to replace it,” said Detective Dale Moore, of the Spring Township Police Department.

Ellen Hogencamp, a neighbor, said that Gray’s Vehicle Clinic has been around as long as she’s lived on the street, since 1983.

“I was out on the back porch cleaning up and I heard this little pop and I looked around and there were a few cars and then a cop car pulled in.”

Hogencamp said she thought it was a wreck.

“I came out and I said, Sam Gray’s place is on fire. I saw light coming out of the doorway and then Bellefonte Undine showed up. The other fire departments started showing up. You can smell it and you can taste it almost, it smells like burnt wood,” said Hogencamp.

“It’s sad, it looks like he's going to lose everything,” she added.

With smoke enveloping the sky, diminishing visibilities with gusty winds, one official yelled out to the crowd of neighbors watching from the street, “If you guys don’t have to be outside breathing it in, I wouldn’t. We aren’t 100 percent sure what we are dealing with.”

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 5:51 PM with the headline "Fire strikes Axemann Road business."