A massive industrial fire Thursday destroyed an Escanaba business.
The fire at Race Ramps on the Wells Township line was reported at 12:15 in the afternoon, sending large plumes of heavy black smoke into the sky over much of the city. Air quality alerts were immediately sent to residents’ cell phones, and crews from multiple Delta County fire departments rushed to the scene.
Crews were there for several hours. Fortunately nobody was hurt. Heavy machinery was brought in to knock down the remainder of what was Race Ramps. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.
Escanaba Public Safety Director Darren Smith tells RRN News that Race Ramps was obviously gone, so they worked to save adjacent buildings.
“Before our units even arrived, the building was almost gone, and were collapsing already,” Smith said. “The main concern was the two other buildings, and the flames were already on top both of those. It was tough once the walls and ceilings collapse, you can’t get to the flames.”
“We lost some school buses from the Escanaba Area Schools bus garage. I don’t know how many were parked in there, but some of them had had fire damage, and we had Gene’s Towing come for emergency tows,” Smith continued. “Those vehicles were and buses were parked almost on top of the property line. Master Electric was on the other side. Two of their buildings were in close proximity. We saved both of them from fire damage.”
Smith says they immediately called for help from Escanaba Township, Ford River Township, and Bark River Township, all of whom routinely help under mutual aid agreements. But this time, the request was sent wider.
“We went a lot deeper today,” the director said. “Gladstone Public Safety, Brampton, Baldwin (Townships). Having Incident Command, this one, we had to have three (command) positioned around the corners of the building. We just had a lot of help. If it wasn’t for them, we would still be covered by black smoke and flames right now.”
Crews were there for several hours. Fortunately nobody was hurt. Heavy machinery was brought in to knock down the remainder of what was Race Ramps. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.
Agencies helping out included:
Bark River Township Fire Department
City of Escanaba Electric
City of Escanaba Public Works
City of Escanaba Water
Delta County Central Dispatch
Delta County Emergency Management
Delta County Sheriff’s Office
DTE Energy
Escanaba Area Public Schools Transportation
Ford River Township Fire Department
Gene’s Towing
Gladstone Public Safety Department
Michigan DNR Conservation Officers
Michigan DNR Fire Suppression
Michigan State Police
National Weather Service
Rampart EMS
American Red Cross
Comments