June 8, 2016 - Early Wednesday morning, June 8, 2016 saw the total destruction of a tire shop south of Center resulting from fire.
The Shelbyville Volunteer Fire Department (SVFD) and Center Fire Department (CFD) were each dispatched within 10 minutes of one another at 2:27am to Platinum Tire, owned by Robbie Sullivan, located 1/4 mile north of FM 414 on State Highway 87 South.
When the firemen arrived, the glow from the flames against the early morning sky was prevalent and the building made of metal, which housed the tire facility, was all but flattened as the roof had collapsed with just the walls remaining standing.
A large supply of tires within the building kept the flames fresh as firemen began working to extinguish sections of the facility from both front and back as the CFD initially attacked from the front while the SVFD addressed the fire from the back side.
Other chemicals and oils within the building contributed to the build up of heat inside of the metal oven which was the building. Vehicles close by were moved away to prevent them melting from the heat of the fire.
As the majority of the flames were quenched the remainder were contained to the inside of the remaining walls. With the further spread of fire to any area outside of ground zero at a minimum, the firemen began packing up to return to their stations.
Deep East Texas Electric Co-op arrived after the majority of the firemen departed from the scene and cut the power to the building. All firemen returned to the station at 5:30am.
This fire remains under investigation and no cause has been determined at this time.
