The Fort Worth Fire Department says a five-alarm warehouse fire that injured two firefighters may have started accidentally and was likely caused by faulty machinery. [[441022163,R]]
The fire started at about 12:30 p.m. Friday in a strip of warehouses in the 2600 block of Ludelle Street, just east of U.S. Highway 287 and south of Interstate 30.
The dark black plume could be seen for miles.
The injured firefighters were treated for burns and are expected to be OK, the department said Friday night.
No other injuries were reported, but officials did issue a warning about the heavy, black smoke billowing from the warehouse, telling anyone who could see or smell it to stay inside. That advisory has now been lifted.
Firefighters were still working to determine where the fire began. They now believe a machine jammed in a cardboard recycling facility. A Fort Worth fire spokesman said employees tried to put it out themselves then called 911.
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The recycling facility is right next to a furniture storage warehouse, and firefighters think some of that material likely caught fire as well. It's also located near a chemical storage warehouse, which officials originally believed caught fire. The flames never made it that far.
Firefighters took extra precautions to hose themselves down after exposure to the smoke to protect against any harmful chemicals it might contain.
