The cause of the fire is still unknown.
Springfield Fire Rescue Division crews were called to the old Family Packaging building, 504 W. Euclid Avenue, shortly after 3 a.m., Capt. Tunney Morris said.
The blaze was large, Tunney said, and with the old building appearing to be vacant the decision was made to attack the fire defensively, he said.
“It was too dangerous … there’s nothing in there for us to save, so we’re not going to risk firefighters for that,” Morris said.
The 35,000-square-foot building, which on property records is described as a manufacturing and assembly plant, is believed to be vacant, fire officials said.
The property is owned by the business Euclids Elements, according to county records.
Euclids Elements owns a total of six parcels in Springfield along West Euclid Avenue and owes more than $136,000 in back taxes, according to Clark County treasurer’s records.
Those records also indicate the properties are pending foreclosure.
No one was injured in the fire and the Springfield Fire Marshal was slated to begin the investigation into the cause of the fire Wednesday afternoon, Morris said.
“This is a very big structure, it’s going to be man-hour intensive,” investigation, he said.
Crews stayed on scene of the fire in the morning hours and planned to make hourly passes of the building through the afternoon to check flare ups, Morris said.
Several spots in the back of the building collapsed in the fire, he said.
In January 2015 Springfield firefighters battled a massive warehouse fire at Tri-State Pallet, an industrial complex at Monroe and Gallagher streets, that destroyed nearly all the complex’s 118,000 square feet in multiple buildings.
It was the largest blaze city firefighters had tackled since the Crowell-Collier plant burned in 1999, firefighters had said.
Springfield Fire Marshal Brian Miller determined scrappers using torches to get gutters off the Tri-State building unintentionally sparked the fire.
UPDATE @ 11:03 a.m.
Capt. Tunney Morris of the Springfield Fire Department said it is unclear if the building was occupied or abandoned.
There was no gas service to the structure, but Morris wasn’t sure about electric.
The fire marshal is expected to be out at the site today to investigate.
UPDATE @ 8:07 a.m.
Fire crews expect to be at Family Packaging, 504 W. Euclid Avenue, until at least lunch time and possibly later into the day, according to Capt. Tunney Morris of the Springfield Fire Department.
The 35,000-square-foot building is believed to be vacant, according to a release. There are no injuries and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
“At this point, the building is much too dangerous to go in there,” Morris said. “There’s nothing to save. We’re not going to send firefighters in at this time.”
Crews are currently putting out hot spots so the fire does not flare up, Morris said.
Morris said the building is a sound structure and crews do not anticipate it falling in.
INITIAL REPORT
Firefighters are on the scene of a fire in large commercial building on West Euclid Avenue in Springfield Wednesday morning.
Crews were dispatched on a reported commercial fire at 3:05 a.m. Wednesday in the 500 block of West Euclid Avenue. According to neighbors, a cardboard box manufacturing company previously operated inside the building.
Our crew on the scene reports firefighters are currently battling the blaze defensively.
We’ll update this page as new details become available.
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