ADRIAN — The fire that caused heavy damage to half a block in downtown Adrian on March 15 was one of the city’s worst in recent memory.

For Adrian fire chief Aric Massingill, the blaze called to mind the October 2000 fire in the former Smith Cyclery building at 113 W. Maumee St.

“There are only four firefighters that we know of that were on both fires,” he said during a report he gave at the March 17 Adrian City Commission meeting, adding that this fire was only the fourth of its magnitude that he’s experienced in his entire career.

“It’s definitely something that we train for, but it was a challenge nonetheless,” he said.

When firefighters arrived, they could see fire at the back of the WABJ building along the roofline. 

Capt. Michael Springer, who was in command of the initial response, immediately escalated the response, calling in more aid.

Over the course of the night, Adrian was assisted by 11 other Lenawee County fire departments and three from outside the county: Addison, Adrian Township, Blissfield Township, Deerfield Township, Madison Township, Morenci, Palmyra Township, Raisin Township, Ridgeway Township, Sand Lake, Tecumseh, Bedford, Manchester, and Lyons, Ohio. The Adrian Police Department and the Department of Public Works assisted with managing the scene, and the Salvation Army canteen truck was set up on Winter Street to provide support to the firefighters.

One of the buildings had a rubber roof that burned away quickly, but firefighters also had to get on top of the buildings to break through a metal roof so that water from the aerial trucks could reach the fire.

Thermal imaging drone helped limit damage

Massingill said a challenging situation — which included strong winds that helped the fire spread — was stopped from getting even worse with the help of technology.

Lenawee County recently purchased a drone with thermal imaging capabilities, and Massingill said the drone was “a game-changer.”

“That technology allowed us to see from above what actually was happening, and we could see inside the building where the fire was progressing and get ahead of it,” he said.

“I was able to talk to the firefighters on the roof and see them and say ‘You need to go 10 feet forward and 5 feet to your left — that’s where you need to cut the hole,’ ” Massingill said.

As devastating as the fire was, Massingill said, “it could have been much worse. We could have lost a majority of that block.”

Cause under investigatioon

Massingill told city commissioners that an investigation is underway, but he cautioned that it may not be possible to determine the cause for certain.

“We don’t have a determination of a cause,” he said. “We may never. We can almost always determine where a fire started; we can’t always determine what caused the fire.”

Massingill did confirm social media reports that arcing wires had been reported at the rear of the building.

“We were called to that address twice earlier in the day for wires arcing,” he said. The fire department called Consumers Energy to investigate.

However, he noted that there was also lightning in the area that afternoon.

Relief fund established

The Adrian Main Street program and Downtown Development Authority, working with the Lenawee Community Foundation, has established a relief fund to benefit the four businesses and seven residents who were displaced by the fire. Both the DDA and the foundation are matching contributions to the fund.

Donations can be made by going to lenaweecommunityfoundation.com, clicking on “Donate Now,” and then selecting “West Maumee Fire Response Fund.”