Nobody was hurt Monday when a fire started on the roof of Benefits Personal Training in Upper York County.
Ashley Blackmon, a personal trainer and manager at Benefits, said she and the owner left the business around 6:15 p.m. Monday. At about 6:45 p.m., a yoga class in nearby Studio South smelled smoke, prompting the instructor to go outside and check out the area. That person glanced inside Benefits and saw insulation falling from the ceiling, then promptly called 911.
Capt. Paul Long of the York County Division of Fire and Life Safety said units responded to the area around 7 p.m. and saw fire coming from the roof of the building and from inside Benefits. Firefighters circled the building to try to determine what was going on, at which point they realized an air handler on the roof had caught fire.
The firefighters then made a “quick attack” on the fire, bringing it under control within 10 minutes of their arrival.
Benefits is located in the Lightfoot Crossing shopping center on Lightfoot Road, where several other businesses operate. Long said firefighters had all of the business owners in the shopping center open up to remove smoke from the building.
Long said an adjacent business sustained some slight water damage but that the majority of damage was at Benefits, where fire and smoke damaged the roof and ceiling. Foul play is not suspected, and nobody was hurt from the fire.
Blackmon said much of the equipment at Benefits was spared from coming into contact with any water or fire. The business, which opened in Lightfoot Crossing more than three years ago, specializes in offering personal training services to its clients. They also offer spinning and other group classes.
She said the hope is to find a place where training can continue as crews work to restore the damage to the building. New carpet and new walls will be necessary in the front part of the business that serves as a reception area and office space. Work will also have to be done to fix the damage to the roof and ceilings. The equipment and workout space is concentrated in the rear, which was largely spared from the fire.
“The important stuff was in the back,” said Lori Schultz, the owner of Benefits. She said she is thankful the equipment was not up front where the damage is concentrated and that there is not yet a timetable for when training and classes will resume at the Lightfoot location. She said she wants to investigate the possibility of closing off the front and using the back for training and classes.
