An early morning fire tore through a tire garage in Windsor, causing roughly $500,000 in damage.
A crew of 30 firefighters led the initial response at 6:05 a.m. Sunday to Serbu Tire on Howard Avenue as flames jumped from the building and a thick, dark plume of smoke could be seen for miles — including from Detroit.
The toxic smoke saw Windsor fire officials urge nearby residents to keep windows closed and to shelter in place.
The fire caused the front portion of the roof to collapse.
Chief Fire Prevention Officer John Lee says the collapse actually helped firefighting efforts as crews were more easily able to access hotspots in the building.
Lee says the presence of welding materials and other chemicals posed the risk for an explosion but crews managed to contain the fire.
“Early on in the fire, they were cooling the vehicles down, as well as the adjacent building behind,” says Lee. “You can see that it's scorched, but fire did not spread to that building. It was contained to the shop itself.”
Lee adds the building was vacant at the time of the fire and no injuries are reported.
Investigators believe the fire started somewhere in the garage, but the cause is still under investigation.
Howard Avenue near Shepherd Street East was closed off for much of the day due to the fire, but reopened shortly after 5:00 p.m.
