Body shop owner loses everything in Thursday blaze By Kevin Pearcey 03-24-2007 Romeo Breau watched as firefighters worked to extinguish a fire consuming the remains of his paint and body shop on Thurs

Published 12:00 am Saturday, March 24, 2007

Romeo Breau watched as firefighters worked to extinguish a fire consuming the remains of his paint and body shop on Thursday night.

&#8220That's my life,” said Breau

Breau said he had left his residence on New Searcy Rd. and received a frantic phone call from his wife that the 150-foot body shop beside his home was on fire. He said he quickly returned to find the entire front of the structure engulfed in flames.

At 9:30 p.m. volunteer firefighters from Searcy and units from the Greenville Fire Department were dispatched to the scene. Firefighters from Liberty and Spring Creek also arrived to provide assistance soon after.

By then, there was little left to save. Breau estimated the loss to be approximately $350,000.

&#8220Everything in there was paid for,” he stated. A friend, he said, had just finished helping him complete $8,000 of stonework to the front of the building.

He pointed through shattered windows to what had been a 1988 Mustang GT, now hollowed out and destroyed by the fire. On either side of the structure, firefighters worked from the back towards the front, dousing flames as they went.

&#8220I've been working on that car since I was 16,” Breau said. He said the Mustang alone - with its new suspension, engine and customized body and paint job - was worth $40,000.

Friends on the scene said there were at least eight automobiles inside - some belonging to Breau and relatives and others to customers, including a Chrysler 300 and GMC Yukon Denali.

By 11 p.m. firefighters had the fire extinguished.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.