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Rock Hill residents reported hearing explosions and seeing flames shoot through the roof of the former Rock Hill Printing and Finishing Co. about 1:40 p.m. Friday, when a huge fire broke out at the White Street site, not far from downtown.
The fire at the vacant building, known as The Bleachery, continued to burn as Rock Hill firefighters battled the blaze around 3:45 p.m. today. Residents were evacuated from homes on the south side of Ebenezer Avenue.
Flames were still breaking through the roof and walls of The Bleachery building on the north side, and fire department trucks were battling the fire on that side.
Dark, thick smoke could be seen from miles away, some reports from as far as Chester. Police are rerouting traffic around the fire scene. White Street is closed in the area.
The Rock Hill Fire Department was called to the ELA Corp. at 500 W. White St. about 1:40 p.m., Fire Capt. Rusty Myers said.
The fire is largely contained to the roof, Myers said. Firefighters don't know if anyone was inside when the fire broke out.
Hundreds of people continue to watch from around the neighborhood.
Witnesses reported hearing a loud noise when the fire began.
Jonathan Giles, a Winthrop University student at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house, 311 Ebenezer Ave., said he was on the back porch when he saw the fire and heard what sounded like an explosion.
“We saw the roof collapse and fireballs shoot into the sky. It sounded like gunshots and looked like a war zone,” he said.
Zachary Amos, 343 Ebenezer Ave., who lives across the train tracks, directly behind The Bleachery, said: “The fire was huge, kicking flames out the windows. A neighbor came to make sure that we knew.”
Maxine Adams, 349 Ebenezer, called 911 after she saw the fire. Then she went door to door to alert neighbors about the blaze. “I heard it first and saw it, and it sounded like bricks falling, with flames coming up huge through the roof and windows. It was like an inferno you see on TV or in the movies.”
The fire continued to spread west to east through the building after it began, as Rock Hill firefighters fought the blaze from the Ebenezer Avenue side.
Rock Hill firefighters called in other area department to assist.
The cause is still under investigation. The owners have reported problems with vagrants and juvenile getting into the building, Myers said, pointing out graffiti on the building.
Any time you have vacant building with no electricity and no gas hooked up, he said, you have to be "suspicious."
Three fire engines, two ladder trucks a battalion chief and the fire chief were on the scene. A total of 24 firefighters were battling the blaze.
Today's fire is not the first one at the former Bleachery. In June 2007, a blaze there kept firefighters busy overnight. The fire started in one of the building's rooftop mechanical rooms.
It took firefighters about 12 hours to contain that blaze. No one was injured in that fire, and no evacuations of the surrounding neighborhoods were needed.
The Bleachery has been closed for about 10 years but at one time was a huge textile mill that employed thousands of workers.
The planned revitalization of the building and what city officials call the renovation of the "Textile Corridor" into a retail space has been ongoing for years. The area is between downtown and Winthrop University.
