CINCINNATI — A fire caused major damage at a Westwood auto lot.
Kelly Callen, CFD's District 3 fire chief, said crews responded to the 3900 block of Boudinot Avenue for the report of a fire and explosion at a car lot. They learned a fire started inside Auto Lot Inc. and spread, causing a nearby truck's rear tires to explode.
Callen said the fire is believed to be accidental and while people were at the lot, none were in the vicinity when it happened.
"Lot of (hydrocarbons), most of his stuff was stored properly, but you can't protect from everything," Callen said. "It was a rather fast fire, it was rather hot."
Firefighters were able to knock it down in less than 10 minutes, but Auto Lot Inc. owner Ken Gibbs said caused a lot of damage.
"I came around the side of the building and it was on fire, and it was crazy," Gibbs said. "I grabbed the fire extinguisher and it just didn't seem to do much."
Just down the road from Auto Lot Inc. are homes. Erisa Danner lives in one of them and said she was taking a nap when she was woken up by the explosion.
“We just heard like a big boom,” she said.
Then she walked outside and saw what had caused the explosion.
“There was black ashes falling down from the sky and the smoke was huge," Danner said.
Gibbs said he's owned the lot that buys and sells cars since 1987, noting they work on a lot of classic cars.
"(I've) had it for a long time," he said. "It's a tough day, but I'll get over it, I'll rebuild and do whatever I need to do."
Callen said they are investigating the fire. In the meantime, Gibbs said he wants his loyal customers to know that while it may be closed for a bit, they're not going out of business.
"I've had a lot of good years, and we'll have more," said Gibbs. "Keep coming back."
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