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Fire Destroys Covington VFW
(by Gary Godfrey - March 31, 2008)
A Covington landmark was destroyed by fire on Tuesday, March 25, 2008. There were no injuries.
The 82+ year old building was housed by the Covington VFW, located on High street one block South of US 36.
According to Fire Chief, Bill Westfall, the fire started on the second floor due to faulty wiring. The local VFW has housed the building since the 1950’s.
Assisting with the fire was Bradford, Pleasant Hill, Ludlow Falls and Piqua. 20 mph winds made the fire very difficult to extinguish. Firefighter battled the blaze for several hours, then worked shifts throughout the night to extinguish hot spots.
Local historian, Fred Shively, dates the building as far back as 1926, known as Hecker’s Garage. The Hecker family turned it into a residence in 1932.
From February 16, 1948 to January 15, 1949 the 173 N. High Street address was known as The Covington Hardware.
The big question now is: Where do we go from here?
Several VFW members have said, “we’ll rebuild.” But nothing official has been announced.
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