By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LOCKLAND - Kip and Kay Kussman stood on the sidewalk outside the former Stearns & Foster mattress factory and looked up grimly at the blackened third-story windows where they have operated their woodworking business for the past three years.

Local and federal investigators confer at the old Stearns and Foster factory in Lockland Monday morning as they work to determine the cause of Saturday's multi-alarm fire. (Glenn Hartong photo)

"I don't think we had any fire damage," said Kip Kussman, who primarily builds bars for restaurants and nightclubs. "But the windows are black, so I'm assuming we had some pretty severe soot and smoke damage."

They weren't allowed to go inside the building Monday to find out the extent of the damage from the devastating fire that erupted early Saturday inside the eastern half of the complex, which is split by Shepherd Avenue. Investigators hadn't determined whether it was safe for anyone to be inside the building.

"Basically, we're out of business right now," Kussman said. "We're at a standstill here."

By noon Monday, firefighters had extinguished the last of the hot spots smoldering beneath the rubble inside the fire-damaged northeastern quadrant of the complex.

Investigators are calling the fire suspicious. Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and local authorities will begin searching inside the complex for clues that could tell them what caused the fire.

Matt Horace, the bureau's agent in charge of its national response team, said it could take all week to pinpoint a cause.

"We won't leave until we have a cause or a point of origin," he said.

No one was injured in the blaze, which brought more than 170 firefighters to the scene and required more than 3 miles of fire hose.

Part of the complex suffered severe damage, with the roof and two floors of one of the buildings collapsing, said Lockland Fire Chief Bill Welshans.

Financially struggling Lockland is hoping to redevelop the site. Stearns & Foster moved to the village in the 1880s and was one of the village's prime employers at one time.

Some space in the complex is being rented to small businesses. Most of the businesses use it for storage.

The fire at Stearns & Foster, which has historical and architectural significance for the village, saddened Lockland residents, many of whom have relatives or friends who used to work at the old mattress factory.

"That factory has raised a lot of families in Lockland," said Janice Mason, whose husband's uncle once worked there.

"It's sad to see that happen to something that has been here for so long."

"We sure hated to see that burn," village resident Linda Amyx said, "because it's another part of historical Lockland that's gone."

Stearns & Foster sold its business last year to Leggett and Platt, which moved it to Mason. A group of investors bought the Lockland complex at auction early this year for $350,000.

Lockland officials say they don't believe the fire has seriously hurt the chances of redeveloping the 15-acre site. .

Lockland resident Don Burhlage said he hates to see even a minor setback in redeveloping the Stearns & Foster site.

"The way the village has been losing businesses, they were looking forward to new businesses coming into those buildings," he said. "It's a shame."

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E-mail skemme@enquirer.com