Muskogee Auto Garage Catches Fire; Firefighters Warn Of Dangerous Air Quality

Muskogee Fire Chief Jody Moore said a fire at the Auto Mall on North York St. caused the air quality in that area to be dangerous while the fire was burning.

He said when their crews arrived at 10:30 a.m. they found that the chemicals in the garage that were burning were creating poor air quality.

Moore said the fire at the G&P Auto Mall on North York St. across from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Headquarters began around 10:30 a.m. Thursday. He said nobody was inside the garage when they arrived and they were told nobody was inside at the time the fire began. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time and Fire Marshals are investigating.

North York St. was closed in both directions between North Street and the 1800 block while crews worked to get the fire out.

The Chief said they had to bring in six fire engines and one ladder truck to control the flames. He said they had to take an offensive approach to get the flames down before they could send anyone inside. He said they has trouble getting water to the fire because all of the hydrants were far away from the scene.

They said several cars were inside the garage at the time and have been completely scorched. Moore said they do not know how many there were.

He said fighting fires in the extreme cold is always difficult because they have to make sure the firefighters stay warm and the water on the ground doesn’t freeze and turn into a hazard. Moore said no firefighters were injured fighting this fire.

MFD said they were able to control the fire within an hour and were still fighting hotspots with the ladder truck through 1 p.m. Moore said they will have crews and investigators at the scene for 3-4 more hours but the road will reopen before then.