Nothing to save: A Granite Quarry firefighter sprays water on hot spots at Progressive Coating Inc. in Granite Quarry on Saturday night. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post

By Shavonne Potts

Salisbury Post

GRANITE QUARRY — A father and son mourned the loss of their family business as a shop they built nearly seven years ago went up in flames Saturday evening.

Ron Bean owns Progressive Coating Inc., which sprays a protective coating on truck bed liners to give the look of a conventional truck liner.

The fire started at 6:10 p.m. at 104 Miracle Drive, when Bean was alone in the shop. He'd just made a fire in the wood stove.

When he saw flames, he immediately knew the cause.

"I forgot to shut the stove door," Bean said.

It didn't take long for the fire to spread. Bean couldn't reach his fire extinguisher and he didn't have a phone in the shop.

"I left my cell phone in the house," he said.

Bean's home is just a few yards away on the same property. When he returned from calling 911, the shop was engulfed.

"It wasn't no way I'd get back in," Bean said.

He wanted to go back inside to save some of his equipment.

But the shop was destroyed.

Cutting through: A firefighter saws through metal at the business just off Saint Luke's Church Road. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

Although Bean couldn't save his equipment, he said he is thankful to be alive.

Rockwell Rural Fire Chief Allen Cress said it was too early to list a definitive cause of the fire.

"It was pretty much all gone when we got here," Cress said.

Firefighters put out hot spots and cut through metal and wooden beams to get closer to the flames coming from underneath.

Several firetrucks lined the dark street while a pair of trucks waited at Erwin Middle School, just in case they were needed.

Bean said even though he stood witnessing his business burn, he would rebuild.

"We gotta have something to do," he said, gesturing toward his son, Rob.

In addition to Rockwell Rural, the following agencies also responded: Rockwell City Fire, Liberty Fire, South Salisbury Fire, Granite Quarry Fire and Faith Fire departments. Rowan County Rescue Squad also responded.

Contact Shavonne Potts at 704-797-4253 or spotts@salisburypost.com.