To say that today was interesting would be an understatement. What started out as a family day at Kings Island quickly turned into chaos as we received the multiple calls saying the store was on fire. We had no clue what to expect, but later in the day we were able to look at the store for ourselves.
There are a few things we would like to update everyone. The fire was confined to the room of origin which was a storage closet. Unlike what was being reported earlier in the day there was no HVAC or any other building component involved in the fire. The fire is still under investigation, but all signs are reporting a thermal runaway in a lithium ion battery that was in a cleaning appliance in the closest. My husband who is a full time firefighter has been on a few of these fires and he said the fire damage could have been much much worse.
There were a few things that helped keep the fire in check. First was the building construction of the building. The solid core door for the closest held the flames in check which deprived the fire of oxygen limiting fire spread, but creating a lot of smoke. Second our wonderful neighbors at Donohoo Pharmacy saw the smoke and immediately called 911. Finally a quick response by the Georgetown Fire Department and surrounding departments resulted in a fast extinguishment.