LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Louisville Fire Department Arson Investigators arrested a juvenile in connection to the commercial warehouse fire that happened Tuesday evening.
The LFD Arson Bureau's investigation determined the cause to be incendiary based on witnesses and surveillance video according to a spokesperson. The juvenile has been charged with Arson 1, however, LFD Arson Investigators are still investigating they said.
More than 100 firefighters battled extreme temperatures while working a three-alarm warehouse fire in the Russell neighborhood.
According to LFD Maj. Bobby Cooper, a call was placed to emergency services just after 7:30 p.m. Tuesday after passersby noticed smoke coming from the building.
Cooper said because the firehouse was literally blocks away, crews were able to arrive on scene within a minute.
He said the two-story, 40,000-square-foot building was vacant.
“We have reports of different materials stored in there. Nothing hazardous has been reported at this time, just a large amount of content. That was some of the challenges, the amount of content, the size of the building, the heavy fire load when fire crews arrived,” Cooper explained.
Cooper said the fire got intense that they had to evacuate the building out of fear of collapsing. The fire did spread to a nearby home and some residents had to be evacuated as a precaution.
The billowing smoke could be seen from different areas around Louisville and parts of southern Indiana.
It took about an hour to get the fire under control.
A spokesperson with LGE told WHAS11 News that some customers in the vicinity of the fire lost power due to damaged lines. Crews have arrived at the site and will start restoring power when the area is cleared.
Fire crews were also expected to remain on scene to monitor for hotspots. Arson investigators were also on hand and Cooper said with a large-scale fire like this, it’s going to take time to determine the cause.
Three firefighters were reportedly injured.
Louisville Metro Police said an officer was hurt in relation to the incident. The Second Division officer was blocking the ramp at I-264 at River Park Drive when he was hit by a passing motorist.
The officer was taken to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries. No charges are expected to be filed.
If you saw anything suspicious or have surveillance related to the fire, you are asked to call the Anonymous Tip Line at (502) 574-LMPD.
The Louisville Red Cross was on scene helping displaced families.
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