Last Wednesday, Botetourt County Fire & EMS units arrived at Dodge’s Store in Troutville to find smoke visible from the exterior and filling inside spaces. After a thorough search, the source was determined to be a malfunctioning rooftop HVAC unit. Crews worked to isolate the affected equipment and ventilate the building. There were no occupant or firefighter injuries.
Units on scene were Fire Medic 2, Medic 7, EMS 7, County 2, bottle truck 1, Emergency Manager 1, Support 7, Engine 7, Wagon 2, and Engine 2 from Read Mountain and Troutville.
Upon initial investigation of the amount of smoke, units perceived the situation as a working fire. However, it ended up being mostly smoke from the HVAC unit.