Carlton Automotive rises from the ashes

OOSTBURG - Carlton Automotive has risen from the ashes of a fire a year ago to build a new state-of-the-art facility just off of Interstate 43.

Just before 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 23, 2016, a leaky gas-tank in a car being worked on in the shop caught fire, which spread and burned down a large section of the Carlton Automotive businesses.

When the fire broke out, owner Carl Roethel was not on site, but was just a few blocks away at a car wash.

“My pager went off and I heard the address and thought ‘what did those guys do now,'” he laughed.

Roethel, who was assistant fire chief in Oostburg at the time, and six of his employees are all firefighters. Three working at the time responded to the blaze.

“After they determined they could not do anymore, they ran to the fire house, got their gear, and worked feverishly to put the fire out,” Roethel said.

At the time, the automotive shop was housed in an older building, constructed in the 1940's, and an addition built in 2000. The addition was destroyed in the fire.

“We lost half our facility at that point,” he said. “With the help of our employees, we were up and running and working on cars again the following Monday. We were all packed into one building.”

RELATED: Carlton Auto catches fire in Oostburg

Roethel said he always dreamed of building a state-of-the art shop — and the fire accelerated those plans. Construction documents were drawn up in the months after the fire and the company broke ground in July on a new building just off of Interstate 43 in Oostburg.

“We hope to grow the business," Roethel said. "We are the entrance to the Village of Oostburg and wanted to have a nice looking entrance to the village as well.”

The new building nearly doubles the size of the business, from 6,500 square feet before to around 12,000 today. The number of hoists was increased from 8 to 10 and the number of work-bays was increased from nine to 15.

“Right now, we have six technicians. I’d like to get up to eight at some point,” Roethel said.

The new facility also includes more space for offices, a customer waiting area, in-floor heat throughout and a parts storage room.

“Before we never had a parts area," Roethel  said. "We just had stuff hanging on walls wherever we could find room."

Carlton Automotive, located at 39 Center Avenue in Oostburg, is a full service auto repair shop with towing capability and a small used car sales lot. For more information, visit carltonautomotive.com.

Reach reporter Phillip Bock at 920-453-5121, pbock@sheboyganpress.com, or @bockling on twitter