SUFFOLK, Va. — Firefighters were on the scene of a building fire this morning in Suffolk.
According to a spokeswoman for Suffolk Fire & Rescue, emergency dispatch received multiple reports of a structure fire this morning around 5:30 a.m. from a caller at the Producers Peanut Company.
That's on Moore Avenue, which is between Finney Avenue and Kingsboro Street.
When firefighters arrived, they found the cold storage facility Mar-Ja Inc. building, which is next door, fully involved in fire.
Two other warehouse buildings on both sides were also catching fire, and a 500-gallon propane tank was exposed, according to a news release.
There was no one in the building at the time. There have been no injuries reported.
Officials from Suffolk and Chesapeake were on the scene working to put the fire out and prevent spread to nearby buildings for several hours. Crews had to rotate because of intense heat.
Shortly before 9 a.m., the fire was marked under control.
“It was very hot," said James Williams, who saw the flames Friday morning.
"I mean just standing right there in the driveway, you could feel the heat.”
That’s how James Williams describes the first minutes of the scene. On his way to work, he spotted the facility up in flames.
“By the time I made it down this road and got to about the third telephone pole, I could feel the heat coming through my truck and could see the flames as they were coming,” he said.
Being one of the first to see the fire right across the street from his job, he tried calling 911. He says that's when he saw flashing lights.
"It was very dramatic," said Suffolk Fire Chief Michael Barakey. "It was a lot of fire. The exposures were very close.”
Barakey said crews worked fast to prevent the fire from spreading.
“This area has a lot of peanut storage in there and all these buildings are really connected," he said. "So, our focus was really on the exposures.”
He said one building is destroyed. Firefighters saved two others which sustained damage. Though crews dealt with more than just large flames. They also had to fight the hot weather.
“We’re going to use a rehab bus," Barakey said. "We’re going to get everybody hydrated and then we’re going to start rotating crews very quickly to maintain their health and wellness.”
Leaders with Producers Peanut Co. did not want to comment following the fire. They did say their operations shut down for the day.
The cause of the fire will be under investigation by the Fire Marshal's Office.