COLUMBIA SPY

 

The owner of a Columbia Borough antiques shop that burned to the ground last week said Monday that a Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal told him they probably won't be able to pin down the cause. David Doolittle, co-owner of Tollbooth Antiques, said a fire marshal listed among the possible causes fireworks, as empty firework containers were found behind the building.  "They took a hard look at those and said they can't really say for sure that they were freshly lit off," Doolittle said. "They could have been a week old, two weeks old; they couldn't determine the age of the fireworks."  Doolittle said the fire marshal told him that he expects the fire's cause to be classified as "undetermined." When Doolittle was asked if he thinks he knows what caused the fire, he said:  "No, not any more than anyone else." MORE: https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/tollbooth-antique-owners-work-toward-reopening-cause-of-fire-unknown/article...

  "COLUMBIA" is visible on a wall behind the  burned-out elevator shaft at Tollbooth Antiques, seemingly unaffected by the recent fire.

Breahna N. Booth and Brandy R. Whited conveyed 1014 Walnut St., to Dylan L. Bair and Brandy L. Bair for $235,000. Valley View Capital LLC conveyed 507 Union St., to Kerstin Phipps for $168,000.

This week's photos of Columbia (Click/tap on photos to see larger, sharper images.)     A huge fire caused massive damage to Tollbooth Antiques last Thursday. The next morning, crews began demo and clean-up, as shown here.     Video   The front of the building looked largely intact Friday morning (above).   ***************** Earlier in the week, a fierce storm ripped through town, knocking down wires and tree limbs.   ***************** A look at the former Colonial Metals -  Is anything still going on in there? Lights were added to the Route 30/Linden Street billboard this past week.   ***************** This seagull was hanging out on a buoy near Columbia River Park.   And here's a black eyed Susan (or two or three). ###

There will be lane restrictions Monday on eastbound and westbound Route 30 at the Columbia/Marietta/Route 441 exit in Lancaster County to allow for the installation of traffic management equipment. Weather permitting, there will be left lane restrictions in place at the exit from 9 a.m. to approximately 3 p.m. so a newly installed contraflow gate, situated on the east side of the Route 30 (Wrights Ferry) Bridge spanning the Susquehanna River in Columbia, can be demonstrated, according to the state Department of Transportation. The contraflow gate is an incident management tool that allows two single lanes of traffic to be directed onto either the eastbound or westbound Route 30 bridge should an incident occur that shuts down traffic on the opposite structure. The gate would only be used in the event of a long-term closure related to an incident. The gate will be used in conjunction with traffic control devices to separate opposite lanes of traffic and a median crossover located on the ...

An angel at the rear of Tollbooth Antiques miraculously survived the heat from last night's blaze.  Firefighters from multiple departments spent hours battling the immense blaze at Tollbooth Antiques last night. Fire officials and police were on-site this morning to assess the damage.  Sources indicate that the primary structure suffered extensive damage and will need to be demolished. The building is insured, but vendors were not covered under the insurance. No injuries were reported.