Lima Fire Department and American Township Fire Department were at the scene of a building fire at 113 E. Spring Street Friday morning.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
LIMA — A Friday morning fire tore through a historic building in downtown Lima that had been under renovation.
The Callahan Building, 113 E. Spring St., was a total loss, including a collapsed roof, according to officials on the scene. The fire remains under investigation.
The Lima Fire Department received an alarm shortly after 9 a.m. concerning a fire on the roof of the building. Firefighters arrived just a few minutes later.
When LFD arrived at the scene, there was smoke on one side of the building and fire on the other. The fire quickly engulfed the structure. Brad Miller, Lima Fire Department second shift chief and captain, said there were four construction workers on the roof at the time of the call.
“We were able to get them off the roof safely. They were not injured and did not receive any medical attention,” Miller said.
Smoke filled the downtown area as crews worked quickly to extinguish the flames. The fire caused a few businesses nearby to experience a power outage. Fire departments from American Township and Shawnee Township sent ladder trucks and helped extinguish the blaze.
Damage to the building was estimated at $150,000.
The structure is owned by Spring & Main LLC, part of Heaphy Harmony Real Estate LLC. The property had been designated as a historic structure in September 2021 and was part of a proposed redevelopment project by the company. According to recent reports, the building was a part of a project to transform historic buildings into different dining and entertainment venues.
The structure was built in 1907 and last remodeled in 1989, according to the Allen County Auditor’s Office website. According to the Allen County Museum, it held a variety of businesses over the years, with the Ten Year Pump Co. there in 1914. By 1920, Wm. Wilson, Ohio Scale & Repair Co. and Toledo Scale Co. had been in the building, with Hobart Mfg. Co. coffee mills moving in by 1930.
R.P. Jones was a long-time tenant of the building, according to the museum. In 1945, it advertised concrete, concrete cleaners and explosives, In 1957, R.P. Jones also sold paint and Suburban Gas. By 1960, Richard T. Jones was its president, treasurer and manager, as it sold paints, heating stoves, gas ranges, high explosives, refrigerators and bottled glass at 113-117 E. Spring St.
More information will be released once the investigation is complete, fire officials said.
