Fire Damages Dunn Car Dealership

The fire occurred in the service department at the Bleecker dealership in Dunn near Highway 421. Officials said the first floor was gutted with a number of cars damaged. The showroom and office suffered only smoke damage.

Firefighters spent about 20 minutes putting out the fire, which they said could have been worse when they discovered that one of the rooms had motor oil and gasoline inside. At one point, there had been reports of tires exploding in the building because of the high temperatures.

Insurance adjustors were still assessing the total damage to the structure Monday afternoon, however damage estimates were expected to be many thousands of dollars. Damage to the Beetle, alone, officials said was about $10,000.

There were no injuries.