A large fire on the west side of downtown South Bend required local fire crews to act quickly.
The fire started at CB Specialist, an automotive electronics installer on Lincoln Way West.
Battalion chief Bob Means says while there is not a lot of information available, it was obvious he and his crews had to exhaust many resources to get this fire under control.
The call came in just after 9 a.m. Monday morning in the 1900 block of Lincoln Way West.
As they pulled up, firefighters noted this blaze was growing quickly as smoke billowed from the back of the business and attached home.
“We're in what they call defense posture so we're spraying water from the exterior to try and extinguish what we can because the inside is deemed unsafe,” said Means.
“What kind of position does this put you guys in?”
“A difficult one, because there's a heavy fire load in the structure so stuff is piled up from the floor on up we can see, so that's been a major part of concern for us,” said Means.
Bystanders looked on in stunned silence.
A neighbor WSBT spoke with said it's one of the more intense fires he's seen.
“A real severe fire, really severe, so like they said earlier, when I talked to Rich earlier, they can't put it out, so all it's about is controlling it, try to keep it contained from hitting the back house, and not igniting over that way, so all they can do is just control it until it stops itself,” said Amon Frison, lives near fire.
Another homeowner said she was just going about her morning routine when a sound came from the building that was so loud, she couldn't stop shaking.
“I knew it wasn't a gun, so I jumped up and I started looking out windows, and finally, I looked out one of the side windows on the side of this house and all of a sudden, I saw flames up in the sky and black smoke coming from the CB Specialist and I was going to immediately call 911 of course, but I noticed right away the fire department was here right on the spot,” said Donna, lives nearby.
The owner of the business did not want to go on camera and spoke with WSBT for just a bit and was understandably very upset.
---Original Story---
South Bend firefighters continue to battle a large fire on the northwest side of the city.
The fire started around 9 a.m. on Monday morning at a building in the 19-hundred block of Lincoln Way West.
When crews arrived, they found flames shooting out of the building. Fire crews say it is a business and a home.
South Bend Battalion Chief Bob Means told WSBT the call started as an alarm but very quickly turned into a fire.
The building is CB Specialists, which specializes in electronics.
The call came in around 9:15 and crews found heavy smoke and flames as they pulled up towards the back of the building.
Firefighters immediately went into defense mode.
A neighbor told WSBT that he heard the whole thing from the beginning.
“We were passing through around 9 o'clock, and then we heard a loud boom in the back rear here, and then, once we heard the loud boom in the rear, luckily, the guy that stays upstairs in the apartment upstairs, and Rich, the CB specialist owner, luckily, they were all out, and we pulled over and asked them if they were all right, and they were all right, and everybody was cleared out, but, with the fire and everything now, it's uncontrollable,” said Amon Frison, South Bend resident.
Anyone traveling between downtown South Bend and the airport needs to know that Lincoln Way West will be shut down for some time as firefighters continue to fight this fire and after it is out to clean up.
WSBT will be out all day looking to get you the most up to date information on what's going on.