No Firearms Discharge in Winfree's Fire

By Sam Thrift Friday, August 12, 2011

The York County Fire Department successfully extinguished an electrical fire Thursday morning at Winfree’s Firearms on Route 17 near Ella Taylor Road in York County.

The fire department received a notification from the store’s alarm company at 11:33 a.m.; firefighters en route were advised that passersby saw smoke coming from the one-story brick building. Firefighters arrived at the building in four minutes and saw heavy smoke coming from the roof and the front of the building.

Captain Paul Long of the York County Fire Department said firefighters attacked the fire, going through the front of the business and stopping it from reaching many of the firearms in the building. One round of ammunition was discharged during the fire because of the heat, but the bullet was contained in the building and no one was hurt. The bullet was not discharged from a weapon, Long said.

According to Long, firefighters were aware of the risk of going into a building that housed weapons and ammunition. “Firefighting is inherently dangerous. Especially when you’re dealing with a situation like that, it’s always a concern,” said Long. “They took all the precautions they could and their quick action - identifying where the fire was and immediately stopping it - stopped it from spreading to other weapons and ammunition.”

The fire was controlled by 12:25 p.m. with the help of about 30 firefighters.

The fire started at the exterior electrical outlet and the cause of the fire was electrical in nature, according to Long. The business was open at the time of the fire and the employees left the building when they smelled the smoke. No one was trapped inside the building during the fire and there were no injuries.

An estimate as to how much damage the fire caused won't be complete until store employees check inventory, which Long said may take a while.

The fire caused the brief closure of Ella Taylor Road, causing traffic delays for about an hour on the street until fire units were cleared from the scene.

Traffic on Route 17 was backed up, too, as motorists slowed to a crawl as they passed the firearms shop.