Fort Warehouse Fire: Residents Allowed Home; Other Updates

Fire officials said yesterday they may “never” be able to determine the cause of yesterday’s major fire on Oak Street.

During a press conference yesterday, fire chief Daryl Rausch said that the facility was a transfer warehouse that at the time of the fire was storing military tires. Several dozen people were temporarily displaced from their homes due to the fire but were able to return around 8 PM. However, around the same time storms began to roll in, shifting the smoke plume. Residents were asked to shelter in place.

There were three people in the business at the time of the fire, and firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading to the Kennel Club among other buildings, by blocking it at a concrete connector building.

Fire officials planned to let the fire burn itself out, stating that the building was a total loss. Two firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion, with one taken to the hospital as a precaution. Chief Rausch also said the water towers in the city had been taken down to their minimum depth during the blaze. Any new developments will be available when we receive them.