Olde Silk Mill Fire Damage Estimated at $50K

A fire at the Olde Silk Mill, 1707 Princess Anne St., resulted in about $50K in damages.

"A call came in about 5:30 p.m. Friday that a business owner smelled smoke and saw smoke coming from the rear of the building," said Deputy Chief Mike Jones of the Fredericksburg Fire Department.

The fire was in a concealed space under the floor.  "We had to cut the floor out of a bathroom and one bedroom to access a crawl space in order to extinguish the fire," Jones said.  "The floors were a couple of inches thick, so we had to use a chain saw."

Princess Anne Street at the location was closed until units cleared the scene about 7:45 p.m..  Except for two rooms, the building could be immediately re-occupied.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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