'It looked like an inferno. It looked like hell on earth.' Workers describe fire after destroying family owned business

LEESVILLE, SC (WIS) - Bucks Frame and Alignment, a family owned business that has been around for decades was destroyed after a fire took place Saturday afternoon.

The commercial fire caused $300k in damages to the business and vehicles.

"It was really a painful memory. You see everything you love, what you work for just goes down the drain." Zachery Sullivan, whose great-granddad built the business said. "I mean this was my life. This was where I was born and raised this was all I knew."

The South Carolina Forestry Commission and several county agencies responded to a commercial fire at Bucks Frame and Alignment located on the 400 block of Truex road around 2:30 p.m.

Timothy Watkins, who works at Buck's Frame and Alignment said "It looked like an inferno. It looked like hell on earth. It was really just everything was blown up."

The Lexington County Fire Department says a fire started after hot material was thrown into a pine brush"It's just a smell that stays in your nose, something that you'll never forget. Something you wake up to in the morning and you smell it again. Something you never un-live." Watkins said.

Crews battled the smoke and flames for nearly four hours Saturday afternoon.

It's a family-owned business that's been around for nearly 50 years. Under the dark ashes and melted metal lies years of memories.

Juanita Gunter, whose grandfather built the business said, "You've got years of me growing up here with them fixing cars and them my grandfather pulling automotive frames of bent cars, it's just devastating to see it like this."

Authorities say 1 person and 1 firefighter were transported to the hospital for heat exhaustion. Both are expected to recover.

The owner of the business, William Felder, said he is grateful that no one got seriously hurt.

"I've always been a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. God puts us on this earth to help people and that's what we've tried to do with our business for forty something years and he's always blessed us with having a good business making a decent living and whatever happens god's going to control it, it's in his hands and we are going to get through it."

It's a place that's equivalent to home for many, but now they move forward.

"It's real heartbreaking but at the end of the day everyone is alive and we can always rebuild and make it better than it ever was before," Watkins said.

"Buck's will be back. It'll just take a while to get it back." Gunter said.

Family members say the clean-up process will begin Tuesday.

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