Owner of burned Franklin Township Yamaha dealership plans to reopen, rebuild
Courtesy on Brian Vasko
Greene County firefighters battle the Feb. 12 blaze that destroyed the showroom of the Franklin Township Yamaha dealership on Route 21.
Courtesy of Brian Vasko
Employees of the Yamaha dealership in Franklin Township pose in the new showroom, just days after the old one burned down Feb. 12.
The owner of the Yamaha and Suzuki dealership in Franklin Township that burned down last week is hoping to reopen this week.
Brian Vasko said his main showroom, which caught fire the night of Feb. 12, was a total loss. He said he had about $300,000 worth of inventory inside, which was also destroyed. The insurance company has not yet given him a total estimate of damages.
“It’s going to be a huge loss,” Vasko said.
The fire started around 10:30 p.m. in the showroom building at 100 Elm Drive. No one was inside or injured, according to Waynesburg fire Chief Jeff Marshall.
State police fire marshal Douglas Rush, who investigated the fire, said Monday that the cause of the fire was undetermined.
“It doesn’t look suspicious,” Rush said. “The insurance company will probably call someone in to look further.”
Vasko said a firewall between the old showroom and a new addition to the building prevented the fire from spreading.
The plan was for the new building to be a showroom for ATVs and side-by-side vehicles. Now that the main showroom will need to be torn down, the new showroom will act as the main showroom, “until we can rebuild the old building,” Vasko said.
The new building did sustain minor water damage, but Vasko said cleaning and repairs were completed the following day. He said he is waiting on some electrical work to be completed before securing an occupancy permit on the new building.
“Once we have that, we’ll try to reopen and bring in some inventory,” he said. “We’re just waiting to get a few things buttoned up before we can open.”
Vasko said he’s had a wave of support in the past week from his 11 employees, dozens of customers and the extended community. He said that since he lives nearly an hour away from the shop, most of his employees beat him to the scene on the night of the fire.
He said the next day and through the weekend, he had 30 to 40 customers, friends and community members show up to help clean, move inventory and offer assistance.
“That’s what’s so great about being in a small community – everybody helping each other out,” Vasko said. “It’s awesome. It’s what’s kept me level through all of this.”