Bob Dore, owner of the Hillyard-area business Spokane Chimney & Fireplace Inc. and a real estate holding company called Dore Holdings LLC, has filed personal and corporate petitions for Chapter 7 liquidation in U.S. Bankruptcy Court here.

Dore's individual petition lists assets of $533,000 and liabilities of $1.5 million. The liability figure, though, is $950,000 more than the actual debt owed because $475,000 owed to Mountain West Bank is listed by both Spokane Chimney & Fireplace and Dore Holdings, technically creditors of Dore's, as co-signed business debt.

The separate bankruptcy filing on behalf of Spokane Chimney & Fireplace, located at 5702 N. Market, lists that company's assets at $87,000 and its liabilities at $959,000, with Mountain West Bank, owed the previously mentioned $475,000, as the only creditor holding a secured claim.

"It's an unfortunate loss for the community," says Dore's attorney, Kevin O'Rourke, of Spokane, noting that Spokane Chimney & Fireplace has closed.

It had been in business for more than 14 years, and Dore, of Elk, Wash., bought it in April 2007, according to its Web site. It sold hearth products and offered chimney restoration, repair, cleaning, and inspection services, among others, and employed about seven people.

O'Rourke says Dore blamed the failure of the business on sluggish sales because of the downturn in the economy, an inability to restructure mounting debt or to obtain additional financing, and a restrictive distribution agreement that limited his product lines and ability to generate sales.