FISHKILL, N.Y. -- From the roof of a neighboring building, we got to see the charred wreckage of Building 100 at the Gap distribution facility. Wednesday afternoon, crews tore down some of the cement walls of the warehouse because of safety concerns. The demolition blew out windows in neighboring office buildings.
The facility is the northeast online distribution center for the Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy. Dutchess County officials say the other building on the campus had smoke damage.But they say the Gap is hoping to open that building soon, to put some employees back to work.
"Everyone is definitely hopeful that the Gap is going to rebuild, and hopefully everything gets better for us," said Gap truck driver Douglas Vinson.
Vinson was finally able to pick up his car from the employee parking lot.
"They reopened the other truck entrance gate, they finally allowed us to come back in, and I was able to get my car, finally, so that's exciting," Vinson said.
Vinson says it’s been a challenge driving a semi all week.
"I borrowed my mom’s car for a little bit to run to the grocery store, because it's a little hard to be driving a big truck around," Vinson said.
Vinson says he'll return to work Friday. He says some trucks were already loaded before the fire.
"We move loads between here and Newark and vice versa," Vinson said. "We bring stuff up from the port of Newark, so we keep very, very busy," Vinson said. "We've already have three trailers already pre-loaded, and those already left."
Other Gap employees we spoke with say they hope to hear word on the status of their jobs by the end of the week. Dutchess County officials say they are working to find alternative sites for the Gap to resume operations. State police and ATF investigators are still trying to determine what caused the fire.