This is what remains of The Rabbit Hole Country Thrift Store at 501 S. South Street. This is one of four intentionally set fires started early this morning that are under investigation by the Mount Airy Fire and Police Departments and the State Bureau of Investigation.
This truck fire was the first of four fires intentionally set early Thursday morning. All of the fires were centered around property owned by Dean Bray.
Mount Airy firefighters had a busy night battling four structure fires that occurred overnight Wednesday night and in the wee hours Thursday morning. All of the fires were structures owned by local businessman Dean Bray.
The first two were reported at 12:52 a.m. at 1230 and 1219 N. South St., the location of Bray’s Recapping and a warehouse across the street.
According to Mount Airy Fire Chief Zane Poindexter, this is the most fires in one night ever experienced in the city limits. Firefighters with the Mount Airy Fire Department and five volunteer fire departments were on the scene of a fully involved structure fire at the intersection of Hadley and South South streets. The business in that location, the Rabbit Hole Country Thrift Store, was completely destroyed. Damage to the building is estimated at $138,000 and the contents were listed at $5,000.
Firefighters were dispatched to that fire at 1:46 a.m.
All of the businesses and the truck behind Bray’s Recapping at 1219 N. South St. belong to local businessman Dean Bray. Poindexter said the first fire involved a truck loaded with tires. He said he could see flames from Grace Street on the way to the first reported fire of the morning.
A fourth blaze was reported after 5 a.m. fire at 461 N. South St. in a small outbuilding behind Marshall's Furniture.
Investigators are still probing the fires.
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