Melted metal and bricks are all that's left of the 200 block of Prince Street in Tappahannock after a fire destroyed the historic downtown on July 15.
"It was pretty overwhelming when I arrived on the scene, that's for sure," explained Tappahannock Essex Fire Chief Paul Richardson.
Richardson and his team of volunteers were the first to respond to the flames that Friday morning.
"We were on the scene within five minutes of the tone that was set off at that time," noted Richardson. "But you take a warehouse full of furniture like this, it's just like putting gasoline on the fire. It went up pretty fast.”
A furniture store, cafe, restaurant, art gallery and real estate office were all leveled by the fire, and nearby businesses are still standing. but didn’t totally escape damage.