A three-alarm fire early Saturday morning destroyed a 46-unit storage facility at 505 Birkhead Avenue off East Fourth Street, according to the Daviess County Fire Department.
A wall collapsed about 30 minutes after the first firefighters arrived, injuring one firefighter, who was treated at Owensboro Health Regional Hospital for a lower extremity injury and released, Asst. Chief Shaun Blandford said.
The name of the injured firefighter was not available.
Blandford said heavy fire and smoke were present when the first firefighters arrived. "The entire structure was a total loss, and there was about 80 percent loss of contents," he said. "The cause is under investigation by the Daviess County Sheriff's Department."
The fire that began in a middle unit of the rental facility was reported at 5:14 a.m.
Eventually, five volunteer fire departments — Thruston-Philpot, Masonville, Knottsville, Airport-Sorgho and Whitesville — and the Daviess County and East Daviess County fire departments responded. About 45 firefighters were involved, Blandford said.
The storage units were connected by a common attic, which allowed the fire to spread, Blandford said. All the individual units were locked, which impeded attempts to control the blaze, he said.
Firefighters were on the scene until 11:23 a.m.
Steve Vied, (270) 691-7297, [email protected]
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