UPDATE: MAJOR FIRE STRIKING DOWNTOWN GASSAWAY

(04/07/2009)
Several fire departments are battling a major fire in downtown Gassaway that started just before 10 p.m. Monday.

The fire started in the Elk Lunch building, a bar, and is spreading to other nearby structures.

An unconfirmed report says, the fire was linked to the operation of a meth lab.

Several fire departments are on scene, including Gassaway, Sutton and Frametown, with an aerial truck from Summersville.

There are apartments over Elk Lunch, with a Tru-Value Hardware on one side of the bar and a medical supply store on the other.

UPDATE

The WV Fire Marshal is investigating the fire that destroyed one of Gassaway's oldest landmarks.

A caretaker was present in the building when the fire broke out.

Gassaway Mayor Ritchie Roach said the building, a former bar originally built as a bank in the early 1900s, was in the process of being sold and was closed at the time of the fire.

Authorities are still trying to track down another person who may have been in the building earlier in the evening.

Firefighters were unable to save the old granite building.