news-record.com

GREENSBORO - A fire caused heavy damage to the roof of a Greensboro Wachovia bank branch Monday evening.

Fire officials responded to the bank at 1204 Bridford Parkway at 5:54 p.m. after a 911 call reporting smoke coming from the building, said David Douglas, Assistant Fire Chief of the Greensboro Fire Department.

Crews arrived to find heavy smoke coming from the northeast corner of the building and had to break the front glass doors to gain access inside.

Firefighters then had to cut holes in the roof to extinguish the blaze, which was mostly contained to the attic of the building, Douglas said.

The blaze was out within 15 minutes and no injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire is under investigation and a damage estimate was not immediately available.

"The last employee of the bank left at 5:30," Douglas said.

"According to their statements, they weren't experiencing anything that would lead one to believe they were having any problems.

"Until we can get our investigators inside, we are not going to know anything."

Douglas said Wachovia will be dispatching their own security team to secure the bank's assets.

Until then, Greenboro police will be providing security at the site.

Five fire companies and an estimated 25 personnel responded to the fire.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com