By Leah Thorsen
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
Copyright 2006 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
EDWARDSVILLE, Mo. — A downtown Edwardsville tire store, gutted by fire early Thursday, will be demolished and rebuilt, Fire Chief J. Brian Wilson said.
The blaze at Autotire Car Care Center, 401 North Main Street, happened across from the fire and police stations. It disrupted traffic in the area and on nearby highways for much of the morning.
More than 60 firefighters from Edwardsville and six nearby departments spent several hours battling the fire, which was spotted about 3:20 a.m. by an Edwardsville police officer.
The fire started in the tire storage area of the business. A damage estimate was not available Thursday. The cause of the fire also was unknown, Wilson said. The state fire marshal’s office was on the scene to help investigate.
No one was injured.
Firefighters did not immediately go inside the burning store because of the danger of the flames. The business had been closed and no one was inside, Wilson said. He also said there was no danger of the fire spreading to neighboring businesses.
Flames shot through the roof of the store. Wilson said he spoke Thursday with the store’s owners, who said the business will be rebuilt.
The store was stocked with roughly 500 tires and between 50 and 100 gallons of motor oil, said Capt. Jim Anderson, of the Edwardsville Fire Department.
A brisk wind blew smoke away from firefighters and dissipated what could have been an acrid cloud.
Said Anderson: “The wind was blowing in exactly the right direction.”