EVERETT, Wash. (AP) -- A daylong three-alarm fire has destroyed a historic downtown building that housed a blood plasma center and a sporting goods storage area.
The fire started around 8:45 a.m. Sunday in the basement of Grifols Biomat USA Plasma Center, sent up a thick column of dense black smoke and was not under control until about 5 p.m., Fire Chief Murray Gordon said.
The operation is one of 43 run by the international health care company in the United States to supply plasma for the manufacture of therapeutic products in Europe.
No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire remained undetermined as investigators waited until Monday to enter the building, which was built in 1909 and once served as the city's federal building and post office, officials said.
Much of the structure collapsed into the basement, but the outer walls remained intact and fire damage was contained within the building, which apparently was unoccupied when the fire started.
``It's a pretty stout old building,'' Gordon said.
Streets around the area were blocked and neighboring businesses were evacuated while as many as 79 firefighters from seven jurisdictions battled the flames.
The fire apparently started in the basement, where the owner of the building, Bill Rucker, stored shoes, equipment and uniforms for another of his businesses, Soccer West, which sells gear to soccer teams.
``I don't know what could have caused it,'' Rucker said.
He said he believes the building was equipped with sprinklers.
