Major fire broke out in the Southern Tier, New York at a trucking company Monday afternoon. A series of explosions at Hills Trucking, Inc., sending flames and smoke high in to the air that could be seen from miles away. It started in a garage at the trucking structure on Route 60 and spread to another building.
"I mean it was just constant, bang, boom. And then we had, I'm not really sure what blew-up, but we had a giant fireball," said Matt Davis who worked in the garage.
"I got to the first bay in our garage and the truck that was in front was already fully on fire and the flames were hitting the ceiling," said Davis.
"We responded to a report of a tractor-trailer fire, the tractor-trailer being inside a building at Hills Trucking," Fredonia Fire Department Chief Derek Jordan reported as stating. "When we got on the scene the building was fully engulfed. We had the fire under control in about two hours. Between the vehicle tires and gases that were inside the buildings the heat was tremendous. My initial report was about 200 tires. I think it was more about 150 tires I was told were stored inside the building along with acetylene gases, propane tanks and oils."
Fire Chief Jordan said hazmat was called. "There was unknown chemicals inside one of the structures. We wanted to just bring hazmat up as a precaution," he explained.
Both buildings were destroyed but no one was injured.
Authorities believe the blaze was sparked by an electrical or battery problem in a semi that caused flames to break out and quickly spread throughout the garage.
(The usual disclaimers: I am not a journalist; This is a blog that expresses an outlook and is not conclusive in any shape or manner.)
