Blast blackens sky

The owner of a fuel distribution center enveloped Monday in a spectacular blaze says it’s a stroke of luck that the damage wasn’t catastrophic.

A 210,000-gallon storage tank that might otherwise have been full of fuel was empty for refurbishment, said Brian Whitley, owner of the Okanogan-based Whitley Fuel LLC, which is Spokane’s largest Shell distributor.

As it was, the three-alarm fire sent up a black plume visible throughout the city and generated heat that witnesses could feel two blocks away. It required the efforts of about 100 firefighters, caused evacuation of a northeast Spokane neighborhood and destroyed the Whitley warehouse and a neighboring towing company. Another business was damaged.

Spokane Fire Chief Bobby Williams said there were no serious injuries. Whitley said the center’s six employees had left for the day.

Williams said investigators will be working to find the cause of the fire at 2733 N. Pittsburg St. Eyewitnesses said the fire started next to a small tank holding biodiesel about 5:30 p.m.

Witnesses reported seeing the fire spread from the ground to a nearby tanker truck with two trailers each carrying 5,500 gallons of fuel. Only a small amount of that fuel caught fire – one chamber out of a total of five in the two trailers, Williams said.

Within minutes the fire spread to a large warehouse containing 55-gallon drums of diesel and motor oil.

“We had explosions throughout the entire time we were fighting the fire,” Williams said.

Firefighters were unable to attack the fire inside the warehouse and were forced to retreat to the perimeter of the fuel company property.

Dan Groom watched as his business, Northwest Towing and Superior Towing, was engulfed, along with 22 cars.

“I don’t know how I’m going to tell people their cars burned, especially the guy with the 2003 Monte Carlo,” said Groom, 34.

“It was so stinking huge,” said Groom, who ran out of the building when he heard a fuel tanker explode across the lot. “I literally did not know what was going to happen, (the force of the explosion) was like a kick in the chest.” Wheelchair Transport, which is connected to the Whitley warehouse, lost three to four of its vehicles. Owner Jim McGranahan said the company, which provides services for people in wheelchairs, remains intact despite several blown-out windows and a burned corner of the building.

“It’s not good, of course, but at least we are still in business,” McGranahan said. “Of course, we will be dealing with the insurance company for the next 10 years.”

Residents and businesses within a two-block radius were evacuated. Residents were allowed back into their homes Monday night, but streets in the neighborhood remained closed.

The fire was expected to continue to smolder today. “We are going to have a small fire for some time,” the chief said Monday evening.

Williams said firefighting efforts were aggravated by Monday’s wind, and the fire itself created additional draft to spread the flames quickly.

Firefighters gained the upper hand Monday when a fire truck from Spokane International Airport – designed for responding to airplane crashes – poured 12,000 gallons of foam and 500 pounds of “Purple K” retardant on the blaze.

The spectacle drew scores of onlookers, including many who stood three-deep along a section of sidewalk on North Foothills Drive, about a block and a half away. Streets were cordoned off, but motorists and pedestrians circulated throughout the area, seeking good vantage points. Parking lots were filled with vehicles as motorists flocked to the scene.

As a three-alarm fire, virtually every available city firefighter on duty was at the scene, along with 25 from other agencies. Out-of-town fire departments sent crews to city fire stations in case there were other emergency calls.

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John Koppe said he was working at Riverbend Industries more than a block away when he saw a few wisps of smoke about 5:25 p.m., then heard an explosion.

“We could feel the heat,” he said.

Korey Shippy was driving past when he saw the fire and stopped.

“It went boom, boom, boom,” Shippy said.

Shippy, who works for City Food Mart downtown, said his store sells more than 10,000 gallons of fuel a week from Whitley.

Brian Whitley, who runs the fuel-distribution business with his father, Ben, said it was founded in 1973 and employs 80 people regionwide.

Michael Stall, who works at a nearby auto restoration business, said he “always worried about it, with them tanks up there. It always made us a little nervous.”

Hundreds of thousands of gallons of water were sprayed onto the fire from trucks, ground positions and aerial booms. So much was being used that the city water department turned up its pumps to maintain adequate water pressure, Williams said. The fire was so large and needed so much water that all of the available hydrants were being tapped.

“We had a lot of water flying,” the chief said.

Contaminated runoff rolling down Pittsburg Street smelled of petroleum, but Williams said it was not likely flammable because of the large amount of water mixed into it. The polluted water was running into storm drains, but wastewater workers on the scene said the drains were connected to sanitary sewers, which would carry the runoff to the city’s wastewater plant for treatment.

A spill to the river would occur only in a large storm. But Dave Mandyke, the city’s acting public works director, said the volume from the fire was not expected to reach the river. Plant workers were going to monitor the flow and divert it to a holding tank if necessary.

Mandyke said he’s confident the plant will not violate its pollution permit for discharging contaminants into the Spokane River.

Yet, an unknown amount of diesel from the explosion appeared to have flooded into storm drains and spilled into the Spokane River at the T.J. Meenach outfall, according to Jani Gilbert, a spokeswoman for the Washington state Department of Ecology.

“There is some sheen near the river,” said Gilbert.

Crews of environmental contractors will assess the damage today at the site of the explosion and at the river outfall to determine whether the diesel can be mopped up or removed. Contaminated soil could be dug up and hauled away to prevent further damage, she said.

It’s unlikely that Whitley Fuel would face fines in the aftermath of the event, Gilbert said.

“We wouldn’t fine for an accident like this,” she said. “The main thing is that we get it cleaned up.”

Fumes from the burning petroleum can pose a health threat to people with respiratory illnesses, including children with asthma, said Dr. Kim Thorburn, former health officer for the Spokane Regional Health District.

“It’s dirty stuff,” she said.

People should avoid breathing the lingering fumes by staying inside with doors and windows shut, she said.

People with acute or underlying breathing problems should avoid exertion in areas where the smell of the petroleum lingers, Thorburn added. Don’t exercise in the area, for instance.

“I would advise everyone to avoid breathing the fumes as much as possible,” she said.

Health district officials were considering what actions to take in the wake of the fuel truck explosion, spokeswoman Cathy Cochrane said.

Williams said petroleum products apparently were the only chemicals burning.

Firefighters were given breaks during the battle to cope with the combined heat of the fire and air temperatures near 90 degrees.

Williams said medical personnel were on the scene to check firefighters’ heart rates and blood pressure and to make sure they got plenty of water.