A Mini Cooper caught fire inside a business and spread to three other cars Thursday afternoon, shutting down part of North Illinois Street in Fairview Heights, IL, as crews responded to the area.
The vehicle caught fire in the Aamco building, 5609 N. Illinois St., according to a Facebook post by St. Clair County Emergency Management.
“In a confined space (the fire) has to go up and over. (It) just went from car to car,” Fairview Heights Fire Chief Brian Doyle said, adding the fire spread to three other cars inside the shop. He said they got the fire call at 1:04 p.m., and “within a minute” had requested additional support because of the black smoke.
Fire trucks were blocking both southbound lanes of North Illinois Street around 2:30 p.m. and traffic was driving in the middle lane. Around the same time the northbound lanes were opened.
No one was injured, Doyle confirmed.
The Aamco owners declined to comment on the fire.
O’Fallon, Fairview Heights, Swansea, Collinsville and French Village crews were at the scene of the fire.
The story, by Mary Cooley, first appeared on bnd.com
Photo Credit: Mary Cooley
