A fire at an Etowah County warehouse that required two days of intense work by hundreds of firefighters may be controlled and extinguished later tonight.
The fire, which began at Gadsden Cartage off Alabama 77 in Attalla about noon Monday, at one time tied up more than 150 firefighters from as many as 60 departments through Tuesday. It also taxed the Attalla water system, causing a drop in pressure that prompted the closing of schools in the city.
Josh Tanner, emergency management specialist for Gadsden/Etowah EMA, said fire crews have made significant progress in getting to the core of the fire, which was fed by large bales of paper. Gadsden Cartage stored compressed paper products, and the fire continued to burn in the 73,000-square-foot complex after the roof collapsed onto an area where burning paper was beyond the reach of water cannons being used to suppress the blaze.
An excavator is being used to move burned material and two more are expected later today.
Last night, officials significantly ramped down the staffing to fight the fire after more than 30 hours of significant activity. As of 10 a.m., there were three fire apparatuses involved, and a few more crews were expected from Cherokee County, Tanner said.
As in the past two days, officials have tried to manage the workload as daytime temperatures continued to climb into the high 90s.
At a news conference early this morning, Attalla Fire Chief Robert Dillard said that about 30 to 40 firefighters have been treated for heat-related issues on-site, according to WEIS Radio.
“So many agencies have come to take part in this, and it just reminds me how community-oriented this community is,” Tanner said. “They helped very need, supplies, anything that was required, and they went above and beyond.”
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