Columbus firefighters were sent to a semi trailer fire at Columbus Container, 3460 Commerce Drive at 11:41 p.m. Wednesday.
Firefighters were told the trailer contained cardboard and was on fire at the facility’s loading dock.
Upon arrival, firefighters encountered heavy fire inside the trailer with flames spreading to the building and interior loading dock area, said Capt. Mike Wilson, Columbus Fire Department spokesman.
Firefighters went to the interior of the building and applied water to a large roll of paper that was burning at the loading dock door where the trailer was located, Wilson said.
The building dock area sprinkler had activated and firefighters began dousing the trailer with water, determining the fire was contained to the interior.
Due to the structural damage to the trailer, including a partial collapse of the flooring and vertical support components, firefighters could not go inside the trailer to apply water to the hard to reach pockets of burning cardboard, Wilson said. To create access to the burning cardboard , firefighters utilized circular saws to create openings in the trailers exterior in several locations along the length of the trailer. This tactic allowed firefighters on the exterior of the trailer to apply heavy volumes of water into the trailer from a safe position, Wilson said.
The department’s aerial ladder truck was used to gain a height advantage for areas hard to hit by firefighters positioned on the ground.
Firefighters were at the fire for about four and a half hours and no injuries were reported.
Columbus Container officials said employees were cutting cardboard material and loading cardboard scraps into the trailer when smoke and then visible flames were discovered, Wilson said.
The company had evacuated the building prior to the firefighters’ arrival.
No damage estimate is available and the cause of the fire is undetermined at this time, Wilson said.
For more on this story, see Friday’s Republic.
