By Leah Justice

leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

 

A few local fire departments responded to Lavender Bistro in downtown Tryon on Wednesday, Feb. 25 in response to a possible structure fire.

Tryon Fire Chief Joey Davis said Tryon received the emergency call at 10:47 a.m. with Lavender Bistro employees saying they could smell something burning. Davis said the policy is for a three-department response on all possible structure fires so Columbus and Saluda fire departments were asked to assist.

Upon arrival, Davis said firefighters were met with a heavy burning smell that reached into the street with nearby business owners saying they could smell it as well.

“Due the size and the makeup of the building, we also at that point requested Landrum Fire to respond as well,” said Davis, “so that we could allocate bodies to the basement, main floor, crawl space and roof.”

Tryon was also assisted by the Polk County EMS, the Polk County Fire Marshal and Tryon Police Department. The police department handled traffic control as one lane of North Trade Street was blocked from fire apparatus.

Davis said crews isolated the issue to a light ballast that malfunctioned and caught fire. He said crews feared the wiring had allowed the fire to travel to other spaces in the building as thermal imaging was finding temperatures as high as 500 degrees.

Firefighters removed the ballast from the building and notified an electrician to respond after thoroughly checking the building.