‘The whole place burned’

Fire destroys Walker Valley auto repair shop

By Connor Linskey
Posted 1/20/21

On Saturday afternoon, a fire engulfed Walker Valley Auto and Truck Repair LLC, shutting it down until further notice.

A spark from an electric welder set a truck ablaze. An employee attempted to …

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‘The whole place burned’

Fire destroys Walker Valley auto repair shop

Posted

On Saturday afternoon, a fire engulfed Walker Valley Auto and Truck Repair LLC, shutting it down until further notice.

A spark from an electric welder set a truck ablaze. An employee attempted to move the vehicle from the service bay, however the flames spread to the rest of the metal building. The blaze then spread from the metal building to an adjoining two-story structure.

“The whole place burned,” said Wendy Henry, an employee of Walker Valley Auto and Truck Repair LLC. “There’s nothing basically salvageable at this point. There’s a piece of the front structure left and that’s about it. All the contents were destroyed.”

While the metal house was unsalvageable, Town of Shawangunk Chief of Police Gerald Marlatt confirmed that the adjoining structure was salvageable.

The Walker Valley Fire Department, Pine Bush Fire Department, the Town of Shawangunk Police Department and several other agencies responded in approximately one hour and were on the scene for about 3 ½ hours.

No injuries occurred as a result of the fire. The one employee was the only person in the building during the fire.

On Sunday, Walker Valley Auto LLC owner Alan Bohlen posted on the business’ Facebook page thanking the agencies as well as members of the community for their help during this difficult time.

“Thank you to the Walker Valley Fire Department and supporting companies for their amazing response and hard work,” he said. “Thank you to all of our customers, friends and local businesses for reaching out and offering any help that we need.”

In the same post, Bohlen confirmed that they would be closed temporarily, however they were optimistic about the future.

“The shop suffered from a bad fire on Saturday and will be temporarily closed,” he said. “We WILL rebuild and reopen as soon as possible.”