Huge Evansville warehouse fire closes downtown roads

Firefighters were battling a large fire Monday that left a downtown Evansville warehouse and neighboring buildings in ruins, and produced a smoke plume visible for miles around.

Evansville Fire Department spokesman Mike Larson said about “every truck in the city” as well as one fire unit from Henderson, Kentucky, was called to the scene of the warehouse fire along Morton Avenue.

He said the fire was contained as of 9:15 a.m. and no longer a threat to spread, but fires were still burning inside the warehouse and neighboring buildings. Firefighters will remain on the scene until Tuesday to put out hotspots, and to begin what will be a lengthy investigation of how the fire started.

Larson said there were no reported injuries during what has been designated a three-alarm fire.

The fire, which was reported about 4:40 a.m., produced a smoke plume so thick it was clearly visible on weather radar in the city.

Video footage of the scene showed that flames were still rising by mid-morning from multiple collapsed buildings across a large area and producing smoke plumes.

Authorities closed the Lloyd Expressway near the Division Street and US 41 exits, and asked motorists to avoid the area. 




(MaCabe Brown /Evansville Courier & Press via AP)