EL PASO, Texas --
Smoke could be seen as far as Horizon City after an abandoned warehouse caught fire in south central El Paso. One woman found herself driving right in the middle of the fire.
At around 11:15 a.m. Sunday, traffic was flowing along in south central El Paso.
"We were gonna go straight to get Alameda Street," said Josefina Cedeno.
Cedeno was on her way to check on her daughter.
"I have to go to the hospital because I have my daughter in the hospital," she said.
Around the 2300 block of East Mills Avenue she found herself unable to go anywhere.
"The car stopped right there and we couldn't move," she said.
Things didnt get any better for Cedeno,we saw some explosions from the wires," she said.
Several transformers started exploding, and a vacant, abandoned building at 2316 East Mills Avenue became fully engulfed in flames.
"The fire department started screaming at us to stop the car, don't do nothing cause the car could explode," said Cedeno.
Cedeno ran for cover. With the roof collapsed firefighters had no choice but to battle the flames from the outside. Hoses had to be pulled over the railroad tracks forcing Union Pacific to shut down for 45 minutes. Those were minutes that felt like hours for Cedeno, whose car couldn't be seen because of the thick smoke.
"I thought it was gonna explode," Cedeno said. "I got scared."
She describes as fear like out of the big screen.
"It was like a movie," Cedeno said.
There is no happy ending. A team of investigators is now trying to determine what started the fire. The building a total loss, with minimal damage estimated at $250,000. Cedeno was left waiting well into the evening to get her car back.
"There's nothing we can do until everything's finished so we can go to the hospital," Cedeno said.
Wearing 70 pounds gear, one of the biggest problems for firefighters was the heat. Extra firefighters were called in so they could rotate every ten minutes to avoid any heat injuries.
Fire officials said the building only had a few abandoned office supplies. It was last known as R & R Laundry.
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