Investigators Search For Cause Of Fire At SW OKC Building

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.