The fire at the Capital Skate Center on Trawick Road started justbefore 5 p.m. There were no injuries. Investigators believe it waselectrical in nature.
It took the Raleigh Fire Department about an hour and a half to get the fire under control, partly because the building is so big.
"It was just a commercial building, a fire in a storage area is difficult to get to, and there were a lot of combustibles in the room," says Raleigh Fire Chief T.A. Styons.
The fire apparently started in a storage area in the back of the building. There were between 20 and 25 people in the buildingat the time, including 15 children who were there for a birthday party.
"We were in having my daughter's 10th birthday party when the alarm started going off, which we thought was part of the party package," says Julie Osisek.
"Oh man, the floor, that's what I knew it was going to be doing. This is raised up. This is where the wood starts to do bow. It'll end up looking like an ocean," McCarty says.
With a roller skating rink, a flat floor is everything.
"The wood and the fire, then the wood and the water, you can't win," she says.
Insurance inspectors are looking at the floor to see what canbe salvaged and what must be replaced. A new floor will cost about$175,000.
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