Massive fire destroys historic Salisbury museum

ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. — Fire has destroyed a piece of history in Salisbury.

The fire started around 10 p.m. Wednesday at the Grimes Mill Museum on North Church Street.

By the time firefighters arrived, the mill was already fully engulfed. It took up to 120 firefighters to get the flames under control by around 11 p.m., but the fire was never completely extinguished. It continued to burn overnight, and Thursday morning, parts of the building started collapsing.

As of Thursday afternoon, the fire was still burning.

The fire chief in Salisbury said because so much of the building has collapsed, they can’t get to the heart of the fire.

An initial investigation has already started, but the weather and the fact that they haven't been able to get inside are slowing things down.

The building was built in 1896 and operated until 1982 when it was bought by the Salisbury historic foundation and eventually turned into a museum.

The mill still contained some of the historic machinery that was originally used for processing grain.

Eyewitness News spoke to the foundation’s executive director about the fire on Thursday morning.

“It's pretty heart-wrenching for all involved in the foundation and also for Salisbury,” Brian Davis said.

The fire marshal, SBI and ATF are all investigating. It could be several days before they have more information on how the fire started.

WSOC