Community reacts to death of beloved Carroll County bike shop owner
WESTMINSTER -- A Carroll County community is mourning the loss of one of their own.
Brad White, 55, died in a fire that broke out at his bike shop, White's Bicycles, Monday morning. People who knew white said he was a real fixture in the community.
Many people, including Brian Pomeroy, still can't believe White is gone. Pomeroy essentially considered him family: growing up with him in New Windsor and being neighbors on Main Street with his business, Pomeroy Jewelers, for the last four years.
Pomeroy said his friend had a charm you couldn't resist.
"He's very humorous, very funny guy," he said. "You could talk to him for hours and you'd feel you'd just talked to him for ten minutes."
Flowers now sit in front of White's Bicycles. The Maryland Fire Marshall's Office said crews responded to a fire there after 5 a.m. Monday. They found White inside, who died after being taken to the hospital. Sprinklers inside the shop helped fight the fire, but there are no sprinklers inside the office -- where investigators say the fire sparked.
White, according to Pomeroy and others who knew him, had a giving spirit. It was easy to run into people he's helped.
"If I ever needed anything for my bike, he [always] said, whatever you need," Eddie Payne recalled. "I would say, well what about the price? He said, 'Did I say a price?' That's the way he was."
Tammy Lowman said White helped her a lot, saying, "He let me have [bicycle parts] for free, or with discounts."
Many said White and his shop, for decades, was just something Westminster always had. It's going to be hard to adjust without him.
"I never thought that someone would be hurt, injured. That Brad would be hurt, injured, lose his life in the fire," Pomeroy said.
Around 30 people living above the shop safely got out yesterday. While the fire displaced all of them for a bit, Red Cross said some have been able to return home.
An exact cause of the fire is still under investigation.
