OKLAHOMA CITY -
Thick black smoke filled the
air spewing from the Buddy's Produce warehouse on SW 2nd St., where a
fire broke out just before 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
"Soon as they left the station
they could see heavy black smoke in the sky," says Oklahoma City Fire Deputy
Chief Marc Woodard. "We knew this would be a working fire, this building's been
on fire several times before."
About
50 firefighters and six fire engines battled flames and smoke all around the
vacant brick building.
"Once we arrived on scene, we
went into a defensive mode," Woodard says. "We had so much flame and fire
involvement that it was too dangerous to send our crews inside, we started
setting up our master stream devices."
3/2/2013 Related Story: Crews Douse Fully-Involved Structure Fire At SW OKC Business
Several thousand gallons of
water poured from four ladder streams on the roof of the warehouse while small
flames continued to spark.
The warehouse had bow-string type of roof, which
Woodard says can be a firefighter's worst nightmare because it can collapse
easily. And that's exactly what happened. The roof on the south side of the
building caved in and fell on top of a firefighter, sending him to the
hospital.
Firefighters still don't know
what sparked the blaze. No one else was injured. Crews will be on scene for
several hours investigating.
