Published: August 17, 2008 10:58 am      

Fire consumes chemical storage unit near airport

Several local fire departments got a 2:30 a.m. wake-up call Thursday after a fire broke out in a chemical storage building near the Woodward Airport.

No one was injured in the early morning fire that caused more than half a million dollars in damages, Fire Marshal Todd Finley.

“The loss was approximately $100,000 on the building and $484,000 on the contents,” he said, noting that the building is owned by Renee Cudd and the contents owned by Turbo Drilling Fluids.

Because there were approximately 20 different drilling chemicals inside the structure when it was burning, Finley said firefighters had to wear their self-contained breathing apparatuses while fighting the flames.

“A lot of the fire was between pallets of chemicals and the external wall,” he said. “It was one of those smoldering fires that was hard to get to. And because the pallets were stacked so deep, it was kind of like fighting a hay bale fire.”

It took almost four hours for firefighters from Woodward, Sharon, Fargo and Fort Supply to get the flames under control, Finley said, noting that it took a front-end loader removing one of the metal building’s walls before firefighters could properly access the fire.

“We were just glad to get the fire out,” he said.

The investigation into the cause of the fire is still in the preliminary stages, Finley said, noting that it is still undetermined whether any foul play was involved.