12 a.m.
Late Monday night, under a gentle autumn rain, the Tridico Sign Company was enveloped in smoke and flames for the second time in barely fourteen months. Four area fire departments responded with at least seven trucks, three ambulances and dozens of firefighters and emergency medical personnel. No persons were occupying the buildings at the time of the fire and there does not appear to have been any injuries.
On her way home from work, Katrina Phillips of Mansfield noticed that something was out of the ordinary in the Tridico building, “I hit the corner down here, and I saw smoke, and I was like, ‘What the heck?’ And it smelled funny. I turned the corner and saw smoke coming out of the bottom and saw the fire. That’s when I called 911.” Phillips cell phone recorded the call at 10:26 p.m.
The fire was concentrated largely in a three floor storage building on Fifth Street. Fire crews from Mansfield and Shelby poured water on the flames from the north and south sides of the building, dealing with partial roof collapses and persistent flame-ups up until at least 12:15 a.m. When questioned about the blaze, Capt. Steve Crock of Springfield Township Fire Department stated that “It will be way into tomorrow until we even know where the fire started.” At that time, it appeared that the west side of the building had not been damaged by fire, though all of the second story windows on the north side had been broken out by firefighters attempting to prevent the spread of flames westward. “There’s a fire door in there (the west section of the building) and we are trying to make sure that the fire does not spread.”, Crock confirmed when spoken to just after midnight.
The sign company occupies two large, multi-story buildings on the corner of Fifth and Diamond Streets. The main building at 162 North Diamond Street was devastated by fire on August 18, 2012, doing damage to the family owned business that it had only just begun to shake off. Judy Tridico, wife of owner Todd Tridico, stood on Fifth Street watching as Mansfield firefighters poured thousands of gallons of water into their family business. “We were so close to being done with all the remodeling from the previous fire. The smoky smell was finally gone and it smelled so nice inside.”
2:30 a.m.
The scene around the Tridico Sign Company had quieted by 2:15 am when Capt. Steve Crock of Springfield Township Fire Department confirmed that the fire had been largely contained in the second and third floors of the storage building facing Fifth Street. The building did eventually suffer a significant roof collapse, however. “Right now we’re just here trying to hit hot spots. Hopefully it won’t continue for hours, but you never know.”
9:30 a.m.
As of early Tuesday morning, Assistant Fire Chief Mark Sieving of the Mansfield Fire Department has temporarily suspended the investigation of the fire at Tridico Sign Company.
According to Sieving, the fire was believed to have started around 10 p.m. Monday night. The blaze caused extensive damage in the rear part of the building where it may have started. Though there is no estimation of the cost of the damage, the investigation was put to halt due to the building being deemed structurally unsafe. The rear of the building suffered extensive damage with partial roof and building collapse, and is being considered a total loss. “We’ve gone this far without getting anyone hurt. We’re not going to get somebody hurt,”said Sieving.
Sieving noted that at this time, the cause of the fire is not believed to be suspicious. Crews did return early this morning to put out a hot spot. “There were no injuries reported, civilian or staff,”said Sieving. He added, “I just want to say how fortunate we are to have the men that we do, how hard they worked through the night.”
This is a developing story. Richland Source will continue to update our readers as facts become available.
