Fire investigators say they’ve found the cause of the fire that gutted an automotive-repair shop on Fairbanks’s south side Thursday afternoon.
Fairbanks Assistant Fire Chief Ernie Misewicz says gasoline leaking from a vehicle under repair in the shop at Jim’s Auto Parts and Glass sparked and started the fire that burned for hours and kicked up a cloud of black smoke visible for miles around.
“There was a fuel leak on a vehicle in the shop that was being repaired, and the fuel ignited,” he said. “We’re not sure exactly what caused the fuel to ignite, but once it did, it spread rapidly through the building.
Firefighters responded to a report of the blaze at around 4:45 p.m. Thursday, along with personnel from four other area fire departments. Misewicz says no one was injured.
“The occupants were able to get out, uninjured,” he said, “and we didn’t have any injured firefighters.”
But he says the fire pretty much gutted the structure just off Van Horn Road, including an adjoining residence.
“It was a wood-frame house that was attached to a metal Quonset hut. And there was pretty extensive damage inside.”
Misewicz says the residents of the home were staying with friends. And he says there won’t be any work going on in the shop anytime soon.
“Right now, it’s not liveable – the house is not liveable. And the shop is not use-able,” he said.
He says a dollar figure on the fire damage hasn’t yet been estimated.
