Intense fire destroys Murray Street business
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER-ADVOCATE

PHOTO BY ROB PRICE Burned-out rubble is all that remains of M. G. Auto following a fire last week at the Murrary Street business.

BATH - An early morning fire Tuesday destroyed an auto repair and towing business on Murray Avenue in the Village of Bath. There were no injuries.

Firefighters from Bath, the Bath VA, Savona, Kanona and Hammondsport fought exploding tanks of propane and acetylene gas as they poured water over M.G. Auto, located at 1 Murray Ave.

The owner of the business, Michael George, risked his own life to drive a flat bed tow truck away from the intense heat, which melted plastic parts of the vehicle on the exterior of the driver's side.

George told The Courier he had to enter the truck from the passenger side to start the engine. Driving it from the scene, he was nearly overcome from smoke in the interior of the cab. He was also unable to exit the vehicle through the driver's side door, since the heat had melted the door handles.

"I had to crawl back to the passenger side door," George said. "I couldn't breath for two hours afterwards."

Bath firefighters responded to the first alarm at 4:50 a.m. and found flames burning through the roof of the building, followed shortly by explosions from the flammable gas tanks. The materials were determined not to be a danger to the surrounding area, Bath Fire Chief Mark Conrad said in a prepared release.

"It was like bombs going off inside," said George, who arrived at the scene shortly after 5 a.m. "Those boys are pretty brave. All power to them."

Firefighters contained the flames to the M.G. Auto building, and Bath firefighters were back in service by 12:08 p.m.

George noted the business is insured and said he hopes to reopen on the same site. "I'd like to get something back up there in the near future to house my (tow truck)," he said.