Refrigeration Supply Co. Suffers An Estimated 1 Million Dollars In Damage

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – A car crashes into a Columbus business causing the store to go up in flames.

It happened early Sunday morning.

Refrigeration Supply Company’s owner Dennis Jones says the crash is costing the company an estimated one million dollars.

But he says hes trying to stay positive about it all.

“He come down Gardner, never stopped at the stop sign, Jumped the ditch which is about 7 or 8 feet across. He jumped the ditch, continued on at a high rate of speed and went straight into my store,” says Jones.

Jones was alerted to the situation by the store’s security company.

“Somewhere around 2:40 this morning I got a phone call from the alarm company saying that the glass had broke in the front of the store. I cut my phone on which has security cameras and looked at it and I said yeah the reason it broke is cause there’s a car up inside the building,” says Jones.

Flames are another thing Jones saw.

“I found about 5 Columbus fire trucks and somewhere around 20 firemen battling the blaze,” says Jones.

But the blaze kept growing.

“They did all they could do to keep it, once it got to the metal building with the insulation it just spread, spread, spread, and they just couldn’t contain it,” says Jones.

Jones says the fire left its mark on everything.

“100 percent, burned or water damage, mostly burned. It’s gone. It’s a hundred percent loss,” says Jones.

But the owner says the important thing is that no one was seriously injured.

“Thank goodness he’s safe. That’s all that matters about a life. He’s safe,” says Jones.

The Refrigeration Supply Company has not stopped operating.

They will be leasing a temporary location not too far from the original store.

Jones says they will have more information available to their clients in the coming days.