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PITTSBURG —
Randy Vilela is slowly but surely taking down a shop he owns at Third and Elm Streets that was destroyed by fire in November of 2010.
The building was a two-story repair shop and warehouse for construction equipment, and Vilela said he thinks the fire was accidentally started by workers who were cleaning and renovating a back room — specifically, using a torch to cut pipe — he planned to use as a parts room. The work has taken nearly two years because he has had to demolish the building around two massive construction loaders that were buried, but left largely undamaged, inside.
“There was a lot of expensive equipment in there, and I had to micromanage the ashes to get all the stuff out,” Vilela said.
Vilela said he owes a debt of gratitude to the city for giving him enough time to properly take down the remains of the building.
“I want to thank them for giving me the time to lessen my losses,” he said. “If they didn’t, I would have been hammered pretty good. They gave me enough time to go in there and go through my parts. It’s just a sad story. But they helped me on my financial losses.”
Vilela said he has so far been able to remove a bull dozer from the lot, but that 65,000 pound loader still remains.
“We’re tearing down around it so we can get it out easier,” Vilela said. “We have about half of the building taken down.”
Vilela said he likely will leave the massive concrete slab that served as the shop floor.
“I have another shop, and I’ll probably leave the lot as a parking lot,” Vilela said Friday. “I probably will leave concrete slab and cover it with rock. That will relieve some of the parking issues and will help keep us from parking on the street. It’s very, very small.”
Randy Vilela is slowly but surely taking down a shop he owns at Third and Elm Streets that was destroyed by fire in November of 2010.
The building was a two-story repair shop and warehouse for construction equipment, and Vilela said he thinks the fire was accidentally started by workers who were cleaning and renovating a back room — specifically, using a torch to cut pipe — he planned to use as a parts room. The work has taken nearly two years because he has had to demolish the building around two massive construction loaders that were buried, but left largely undamaged, inside.
“There was a lot of expensive equipment in there, and I had to micromanage the ashes to get all the stuff out,” Vilela said.
Vilela said he owes a debt of gratitude to the city for giving him enough time to properly take down the remains of the building.
“I want to thank them for giving me the time to lessen my losses,” he said. “If they didn’t, I would have been hammered pretty good. They gave me enough time to go in there and go through my parts. It’s just a sad story. But they helped me on my financial losses.”
Vilela said he has so far been able to remove a bull dozer from the lot, but that 65,000 pound loader still remains.
“We’re tearing down around it so we can get it out easier,” Vilela said. “We have about half of the building taken down.”
Vilela said he likely will leave the massive concrete slab that served as the shop floor.
“I have another shop, and I’ll probably leave the lot as a parking lot,” Vilela said Friday. “I probably will leave concrete slab and cover it with rock. That will relieve some of the parking issues and will help keep us from parking on the street. It’s very, very small.”
