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Fire Destroys Lawrence County Business

MAHONING TOWNSHIP (KDKA) - A Lawrence County business was destroyed by an intense fire Tuesday night.

According to officials at the scene, Seal Master Manufacturing caught fire around 11 p.m.

Police initially responded to the scene for a burglar alarm and found smoke filling a back room.

By the time firefighters arrived, the building was engulfed.

Chemicals inside of the building caused the flames to spread quickly.

At one point, firefighters heard several small explosions from propane tanks inside.

The main goal was to keep the fire from spreading.

Seal Master keeps flammable chemicals in a storage area on the other side of Route 224.

"It's a building that's added on and added on and added on. A lot of equipment in there that deals with asphalt repairs and asphalt sealing," Mahoning Twp. Fire Chief Francis Exposito said. "The main tar is kept in another warehouse across the street, so a lot of the major hazards were contained to another building."

A fireworks shop is also just a few hundred feet away.

"It's across the street from Sky King Fireworks," said Chief Exposito. "We were hoping the ashes went north instead of east."

The cause of the fire is under investigation by a fire marshal, but it is not being treated as suspicious.

Seal Master says other nearby locations will take care of customers and employees won't miss a day of work.

The building is a loss, but company officials plan to have a new building up and running as soon as possible.

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