A fire at a Carrboro auto body shop led to a response from the Carrboro Fire Department on Friday morning.

An eyewitness alerted Chapelboro to a fire in Carrboro around 7:45 a.m., with first responders redirecting traffic to avoid East Main Street between West Rosemary and West Franklin Street. Firefighters, including a ladder truck, were putting out flames at Gates of Beauty Auto Shop at 405 East Main Street.

“We had fire showing through the roof on our arrival,” Carrboro deputy fire chief David LaPlante told Chapelboro. “We had crews go in, extinguish the fire, conduct some ventilations, some overhaul.”

A firefighter grabs a water during a response to a fire at 405 East Main Street in Carrboro. (Photo by Henry Taylor/Chapel Hill Media Group.)

The garage door leading into Gates of Beauty Auto Shop was blackened, billowing smoke and dripping with water from fire hoses. The smoke continued to rise up from the building, visible from multiple angles. Even as far away as the Drakeford Library Complex, the smell of the fire was heavy in Carrboro on Friday morning.

LaPlante said while all roads in the area are now reopened, the fire damage is extensive. The building which houses both Gates of Beauty and the neighboring business Public Impact has been condemned, with the Town of Carrboro estimating $500,000 worth of damages.

LaPlante told Chapelboro both the state fire marshal and the state Bureau of Investigation determined the fire was caused by accidental electrical failure.

 

Featured photo by Henry Taylor/Chapel Hill Media Group.

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