Fire torches auto shop

Three partial cinder-block walls and the twisted, blackened remnants of three cars were all that remained Saturday of a small business on Mitchell Street.

Leroy Jones worked part time at Rogers Auto & Body building motors. As he looked at the charred remains of his livelihood, Jones said he was "devastated" by the loss.

"I mean, good Lord, I'm speechless," he said.

About seven people worked at the business that had only been at the Mitchell Street location since February, Jones said.

"I'm at a loss for words," he said. "I was just devastated. Everyone has their livelihood, your tools, all the stuff that we use was in there."

Zemelist Prewitt did detail work at the shop. He pointed to one of the vehicles on the lot, a GMC SUV.

"See that car?" he said. "It just got painted. She's supposed to be picking it up Monday. Now look at it."

The truck in question - which sported a new green-and-white paint job - was parked next to the ruined building. Because of its proximity to the fire, as the walls began to crumble, cinderblocks dropped onto the roof of the vehicle, denting it and cracking the windshield. Luckily for the owner, however, insurance should cover the damage, Prewitt said.

Prewitt was one of the first people from the shop on scene, arriving around 4:15 a.m. Saturday.

"I came here, and I saw this building up in flames," he said. "I don't know how it could have started."

Calls stating Rogers Auto & Body was on fire starting coming in a few minutes before 4 a.m. Saturday, according to Kinston Department of Public Safety Sgt. Craig Jarman.

The cause of that fire, however, is still unknown.

"As of right now, it's still undetermined," he said. "We still have to speak with the occupants a bit more. Nothing at this point leads us to believe that it was an intentional fire, though."

Jarman said the inquiry should be complete by Tuesday at the latest.

Owner Kelvin Rogers said investigators told him the cause of the damaging fire might have been electrical.

"They think that it started in the office area in a light fixture," he said, pointing to the twisted remains of three of the possible culprits.

Rogers said despite a lack of insurance on the contents of the building - the building itself was rented and insured by the owner - he will move to another location and start again.

"We're going to move," he said. "We're not going to let this get us down. God has a better plan for us. We look out for our community.

"... We're not going to let this get us down."

Vanessa C. Shortley can be reached at (252) 559-1076 or vshortley@freedomenc.com. Check out Vanessa's blog at http://vshortley.encblogs.com.