$90,000 fire at Billy’s Barn traced to heating/air conditioning
HANGING ROCK – A fire that caused an estimated $90,000 to Billy’s Barn today has been traced to the recently opened restaurant’s heating and air conditioning system.
Roanoke County fire investigators determined the Nov. 7 fire discovered by an employee shortly before 11:30 a.m. happened after a HVAC component failed, sparked material nearby and spread to the drop ceiling and attic.
The restaurant is not open on Mondays. There was no immediate word on when it might reopen. Former Salem High School coach Billy Miles opened the restaurant a few months ago in the same location he used to run one, at the intersection of Thompson Memorial Drive and Kessler Mill Road.
When Roanoke County firefighters arrived they found smoke showing from the side of the restaurant, said Jennifer Conley Sexton of Roanoke County Fire and Rescue.
Salem firefighters assisted in putting out the fire, and firefighters from the Masons Cove, Catawba, and Hollins stations spend more than two hours searching the large attic space to determine where the fire started.
See Carrie Cox’s photos of the interior of Billy’s Barn after the fire, and follow the cleanup by SERVPRO by clicking on the Salem Times-Register’s Facebook ikon on our website, at right.
