Roof Burns on OH Building Under Renovation

Jun. 14—A fire on the roof produced heavy black smoke from the old Mendelson Liquidation Outlet building late Tuesday morning in downtown Dayton.

The fire was reported around 11:30 a.m. to the building at 340 E. First St., not far from the Dayton Dragons stadium, in the heart of the city's thriving Water Street District.

A major renovation is underway to convert the eight-story, 544,935-square-foot building — also known as Delco plant 2 — into apartments, office, retail and restaurant space.

Preliminary information suggests the fire started when construction crews on the roof either cut into or did work on an object or container that may have had rubber or a fuel product inside, said Dayton fire Chief Jeff Lykins.

The fire was pretty small and did not take long to extinguish. However, it did produce a significant amount of smoke, he said.

Roofing and the vessel essentially were the only things that burned because most of the building had been cleared out for renovations.

"It looked more impressive than it actually was," Lykins said.

Firefighters Initially had trouble getting water to the roof and had to pump it using a ladder truck.

Fire crews accessed the fifth floor of the massive building by setting up aerial ladder trucks with pre-piped waterways, Lykins said.

The biggest concern was the extremely hot weather.

The fire department set up "rehab units" to help firefighters in full gear who responded to the incident cool down, Lykins said.

"It is tremendously hot," he said.

About 11 fire trucks and paramedic units responded to the scene.

"I know we sent a lot initially because of the amount of smoke," Lykins said.

Mendelsons closed Dec. 31, 2020, following the sale to Columbus developer Crawford Hoying Inc. for $7.325 million in the fall of 2019.

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