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Fire destroys Garner family auto shop business

A popular Garner auto shop is in ruins, and several customers' vehicles are destroyed after a fire Saturday morning. A half dozen fire departments responded to the call on Dynamic Drive. Paulette Hackney and her husband Everett, along with their two sons, poured themselves into their shop, Chason Diesel Service.

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GARNER, N.C. — A popular Garner auto shop is in ruins, and several customers’ vehicles are destroyed after a fire Saturday morning. A half dozen fire departments responded to the call on Dynamic Drive.

Paulette Hackney and her husband Everett, along with their two sons, poured themselves into their shop, Chason Diesel Service.

“It’s a big loss. It’s our life,” Hackney said. “It will be 25 years on April 1.”

“It was horrible. It was sickening.”

While they are insured, Hackney said it doesn’t blunt the shock.

Deputy Fire Chief Tim Herman went to school with one of the sons.

“Right now, we’re looking at a total loss of this structure and the contents inside,” Herman said. “It’s tough to go to any fire, but especially when it involves someone you know personally.”

And in a small town like Garner, that isn’t uncommon.

“You don’t just help people you don’t know, you help people you do now,” he said.

It's unclear what started the fire, but they know several customer vehicles were destroyed.

“Vehicles, customer vehicles,” Hackney said. “I think there were three, maybe four customer vehicles in there.”

Hackney said a technician had been working in the shop but left to get some parts. That's when something sparked.

“Well, we’ll get ourselves together,” Hackney said.

Fire officials said it appears the fire started accidentally. The origin and the cause remain under investigation.

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