SPRING VALLEY, Greene County — Nearly four years after a kitchen fire destroyed the Spring Valley RoadDog gas station, the business reopened Thursday to fill a much needed void for commuters.
>> RELATED: Firefighters battle flames at Spring Valley gas station
“We’re excited to be back,” Division Director John Sullivan told our News Center 7 videographer. “This is an exciting opportunity.”
Flames could be seen clearly in the early morning hours of Oct. 4, 2019, as the rear of the business at U.S. 42 and 1616 W. Spring Valley Paintersville Road, in Spring Valley, burned to a crisp.
The RoadDog, operated by the Duncan Oil Company, was a total loss by the time the flames were extinguished. There were no reported injuries.
Rebuilding was never a question. The company wanted to find a new location, Sullivan said, but decided to rebuild on the very site of the old building, which is on the border between Greene and Warren counties.
“We know the community has a lot of energy behind [RoadDog rebuilding],” he said.
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Plans to rise from the ashes were slowed by the pandemic, which caused supply chain disruptions in securing building materials. But, not to be denied, the business -- the only gas station in the Spring Valley area -- reopened Thursday morning, much to the happiness of commuters who travel U.S. 42 between Xenia and Waynesville.
“We want to be here for a long time for all the communities we serve,” Sullivan said. There are other RoadDog locations in Bellbrook, Dayton and elsewhere in the Miami Valley, according to Duncan Oil, the family-owner business in southwest Ohio.
“We want to be a food destination as well,” Sullivan said, hinting at the RoadDog’s rebuilt life including the hot breakfasts, lunches and dinners that were offered at the Spring Valley location in addition to gas and convenience store merchandise.