SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane fire crews responded to a third alarm fire in downtown Spokane early Thursday morning. The fire has since been contained but the scene is still active.
Monroe Street was initially blocked off due to the fire, but by 5 p.m., only one lane was still partially closed.
Spokane Police Chief Brain Schaeffer told KREM 2 that the fire was reported at 4:22 a.m. near Railway Avenue in downtown Spokane. Crews that arrived on scene reported seeing fire and heavy smoke coming from a downtown Alley.
Chris Miller, a downtown resident, lives two blocks from his gas station at the corner of Second Avenue and Lincoln. He said walking into work, the sky was lit up in flames.
"It looked like a giant fireball," Miller said. "The smoke was super black and dark."
An employee at the Steam Factory restaurant said she could see the smoke from Browne's Addition. As she drove closer and closer to where the smoke billowed on her way to work, she feared it was her restaurant in trouble.
"Driving to work, it was a little scary because it was so close," Lauren Kopke, Steam Factory cook said. "It was a little scary thinking it could spread to my livelihood.”
Schaeffer said the fire and smoke were coming from a storage facility and parking garage near the apartments. He added that heavy combustibles were inside the facility, but no people were inside.
The fire was eventually upgraded from a second alarm to a third alarm, according to Schaeffer.
Crews were able to isolate the fire to that building. Schaeffer said there was slight extension into a building near the storage facility, but crews were able to stop it before it spread even further.
Rick Stichweh is a presser at Litho Arts Printer. He was able to watch firefighters put out the flames from the roof of his building.
"We have access to the roof so I went up to see what was going on from a bird's eye view," Stichweh said. "It was about 7 a.m. when I got up there so I didn't see any fire just a lot of smoke blowing westbound.
According to Spokane Fire Department, the situation was declared under control at 7:15 a.m.
It is still not known what caused the fire.
Schaeffer said he expects firefighters to be on the scene until noon on Thursday. KREM 2 crews on the scene reported at least two dozen first responder vehicles.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.