news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Firefighters battled a stubborn, smoky fire this morning at the former site of Leon's Beauty School on West Lee Street.

No injuries were reported. Authorities said the fire was sparked by discarded smoking materials; at least one homeless person had been inside the building. Damage to the vacant building was estimated at $30,000.

Fire trucks blocked West Lee Street just east of Aycock Street for much of the morning rush hour.

Passersby reported seeing smoke and flames from the building at 1410 W. Lee St. at about 6:45 a.m. Wednesday. By about 7 a.m., thin gray smoke wafted out of the building. Fire officials said that fire damage was minimal, but firefighters needed until about 7:45 a.m. to stamp out hot spots throughout the one-story building.

Parker Washburn, owner of Leon's Style Salons, said the building had been vacant for about a year since the beauty school moved to the former Tobacco USA site on Coliseum Boulevard. The building had been used for storage.

Washburn bought the building in 1985 and moved Leon's Beauty School from Walker Avenue. Previously, the West Lee Street building had been the Dock Seafood Restaurant, which closed in the mid-1980s shortly after a kitchen fire.

Washburn said it took six months for the smell of fried flounder to dissipate.

Now, she said, "I guess the smell of flounder is out of it now."

The former beauty school building is slated to be torn down at some point to make way for either retail space or apartments or both a block away from UNCG. Atlantic Coastal Properties has listed the 2.5-acre site at $2 million.