March 23, 2009

Boyd Tavern Market has been around since the thirties, but Monday morning flames threatened to bring down the historic structure, if not for the quick thinking of the store clerk.

"She started smelling smoke around 7:30, 7:33. She called 911. There were four customers in the store at that time she had all of them evacuate the building," said Ted Armentrout, Stony Point Fire Chief.

Helping to save not only the building but the customers who were inside at the time as well.

"It's just scary. But, you learn not to panic; you can't panic when you see flame you gotta take control and know how to operate. The you know do what you need to do. And what I did was get the customers out and then took care of business," said Boyd Tavern Market cashier Leann Collier.

Collier says she knew she had to act quickly. She wasn't entirely sure of how long the structure could hold up, but prepared for the worst.

"That it would burn down right then, because it's an old building and you don't know how good it is," said Collier.

The owner says he's been told that the cause of the fire may have been electrical. He says things could have been a lot worse. The fire burning just a few feet from the station's kerosene and gas tanks. in the end, he's thankful no one got hurt.