Glynn County firefighters try to control a fire at the McRorie Paint and Wallcovering store on Norwich Street, Thursday. (James Nix/The Brunswick News)

This year marks the 20th anniversary of McRorie Paint and Wallcovering in Brunswick, but a fire Thursday dashed any hope of the store celebrating two decades of business at its Norwich Street location.

Glynn County firefighters, responding to a call at about 3 p.m., battled the fire at McRorie's paint store at 3809 Norwich St. for more than an hour.

With the help of volunteer firefighters and the Brunswick Fire Department, they kept the flames from spreading to nearby buildings, a concern early on, but were unable to save the paint store.

The Glynn County Fire Department described the paint store, because of the extent of damage, as a nearly total loss.

At least one firefighter was injured while fighting the blaze. Because of the store's flammable contents and intensity of the fire, police evacuated residents close to the fire to be on the safe side.

Roy McRorie, owner of the paint business, could do nothing but stand across the street, stunned, and watch his business literally go up in flames.

He said he was in his office when the fire started.

"I heard the fire popping and I started looking around and everything went black," McRorie said.

It did not take McRorie long to figure out that the store, with its paint, carpet, ceramic and ceiling tiles, was a dangerous place to be in a fire. He said he got out of the building as quickly as possible.

Paint store owner Roy McRorie, who was to celebrate 20 years in business at his Norwich Street store this year, said he believes Thursday's fire began in an electrical panel box.  (James Nix/The Brunswick News)

Glynn County Fire Department Chief Al Thomas said the paint and solvents inside the store posed a number of problems for firefighters.

"It burns out and it burns fast, so you've got a large fire once it gets ignited," Thomas said. "It's just like kerosene."

The paint store and McRorie's office make up two of four interior spaces in the block-long building. Only the store and office were affected by the fire, according to the county fire department.

Clouds of thick, billowing black smoke poured out of the building as the firefighters fought the blaze, which at times was intense. They fought it on the ground and from above with 105-foot and 80-foot aerial ladders.

Several false ceilings inside the one-story building gave firefighters a tough time when the fire spread from the paint store to the office, Thomas said.

Another challenge was trying to stay hydrated after battling the blaze in heavy fire safety gear. Firefighters took turns taking breaks, drinking liquids and stretching out on the ground to cool off.

One Glynn County firefighter was injured and may have a broken leg, Thomas said. The injured person, who was not identified, was taken to the Brunswick hospital of the Southeast Georgia Health System. How the injury occurred was not immediately available.

The fire department is investigating the cause of the fire.

McRorie, who leases the building from Clarice Henson DeLoach, the owner, said he thinks the fire started in an electrical panel box in the rear of his office.

Christina Whitt, who lives across the street from the paint store, was among the first to notice the fire.

"I saw white smoke at first and when it got worse, nothing but black smoke,"  she said. "You could see the flames coming up out of the roof."