Fire destroys large musical instrument collection



A fire consumed a building housing musical instruments at the intersection of Seventh and Saratoga Streets in Newport Tuesday.

Firefighters responded to the blaze just before 8 p.m. and found a fire in the rear of the residence with flames coming through the roof, officials said.

No injuries were reported.

"There's going to be a large loss," Newport Fire Chief Gary Auffart said. "There was a lot of musical equipment stocked up from floor to ceiling on the inside which made interior conditions even more dangerous."

Firefighters were unable to enter the building even after the fire was extinguished, Auffart said.

The owner of the building was out of town at the time of the blaze. Aside from the instruments, the building was otherwise empty.

Fire departments from Covington, Southgate, and Bellevue-Dayton responded to help Newport firefighters.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.