An early morning fire Friday destroyed the Pike Lanes bowling and gaming facility in Troy.

Thomas Outlaw, Troy Fire Department chief, said the call came in to the fire department at 4:07 a.m. Friday.

When the firefighters arrived, Outlaw said the fire inside the building was so intense that efforts to enter the building were thwarted. It took about two hours for firefighters to bring the fire under control.

“Pike Lanes is in our coverage area but outside the city limits,” Outlaw said. “The investigation will be turned over to the state fire marshal’s office.”

Pike Lanes is owned and operated by Scott Oertel, who would only say that he was devastated by the fire.

“So much hard work, so much planning and it’s all gone,” said Oertel, who was flanked by several young adults who frequently gathered at Pike Lanes.

“There’s not much for us to do around Troy,” said Blake Austin. “Pike Lanes was a place where we could all go and have something to do. Scott is a friend and we’ve helped him do a lot of the work out here. He had just put in some new games – a couple of pool tables and air hockey. He had a lot of plans for this place and now it’s gone and we have nowhere to go.”

Brandy Smith, who is also a friend of Oertel, said he called her around 5:25 a.m. Friday and told her that he was watching his building burn to the ground.

“I got right up and came,” Smith said. “I was up here every day. A lot of us were, but now we don’t have anywhere to go and nothing to do. This was our place, too. We hate it so bad for Scott. For all of us.”