Cutting pieces off vehicles likely caused fire at Moraine salvage yard, fire marshal says

MORAINE — The fire at Moraine Auto Parts & Services salvage yard Thursday afternoon caused smoke seen in areas as far north as Huber Heights.

The fire at the business on Northlawn Avenue, near Ward Steel Services, was reported about 1:20 p.m.

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Moraine Fire Marshal Doug Hatcher told News Center 7′s John Bedell that employees were conducting “normal, everyday activities” at the time of the fire.

“Cutting pieces off of cars and stuff and one of them ignited and got out of control fairly quickly,” Hatcher said. No one was injured.

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Moraine Fire in at auto parts store

He said while the fire was tough for crews to get to at first, once crews had the flames surrounded, they were able to put it out quickly.

The fire produced large amounts of thick, black smoke that could be seen for miles. The fire department even received reports of people in Dayton smelling the fire. Some people near the business reported hearing small explosions. Hatcher said those sounds were mostly tires popping in the fire.

“Today the wind was kind of working for us,” the fire marshal said. “It was going up and then out.”

There was no immediate information available about the number of vehicles affected by the smoke and flames or an estimated dollar loss.

We will update this story as we learn more.

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