SAN ANTONIO - A warehouse fire has sent billowing black smoke into the air and burned several nearby trucks. Firefighters battled massive flames Friday morning on the Northeast Side at a warehouse in the 9500 block of Ball Street near I-35 and Loop 410.
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Click here to view the slideshow...The fire could be seen from miles in all directions began just before 4:30am. A passerby called in the fire, and more than 50 fire units responded.
When firefighters arrived there were flames coming from all over the building. After several hours, those flames turned to smoke. By daybreak, the fire had been contained.
No injuries were reported. Authorities are trying to determine what started the fire at the 15,000 square feet storage structure, which includes wooden pallets. Part of the roof collapsed.
Chris Brueckel came into work this morning next door and was ordered to evacuate.
"It was just explosions, a lot of smoke, and you know they got oil drums back there and massive pallet stacks."
He and his friend Oscar Morales stood outside taking it all in. Morales says he's been inside this one where trucks loaded up.
"When I go in, there's a lot of pallets. I have no idea what they do in there. It's just stacks of plastic pallets."
Those pallets are what kept this fire persistent all morning. The building is now in a total loss and the fire chief says he's not taking any chances.
"You risk a lot to save a lot, and we already lost this building, and we're not going to lose any firefighters over it, so our strategy is to approach is very safely, so it's going to take us a while to get that done," says chief Charles Hood.
San Antonio Fire Department spokeswoman Deborah Foster says transformers in the warehouse apparently exploded, along with fuel in several vehicles.
There are no reports of injuries. State environmental regulators were on hand to monitor air quality. There were 21 people evacuated from the Dexlux Inn near the fire.
Arson Investigators are still looking into the cause and say it could take time to figure it out.
