Washington firefighters encountered a fireball from a propane fireball and exploding ammunition during an apartment blaze Thursday.
Clark County crews responded to the fire short after 9 a.m. at an apartment building in Woodland, Clark County Today reports. Flames had spread from the patio into the apartment's attic, and a propane container burst into a large fireball.
Exploding ammunition stopped firefighters from initially entering the apartment. More than 1,000 rounds of small arms ammo was inside the apartment, and crews had to wait until it stopped exploding.
“We are used to a little bit of ammunition going off at a fire," Fire Chief John Nohr told Clark County Today. "This was so much more. It was challenging to command this fire with the noise of that much ammunition going off.”
Firefighters eventually were able to control the blaze, and they were at the scene until 2 p.m. Flames destroyed one apartment, and two other vacant units being remodeled also were damaged.
No one was injured in the incident. Three residents were displaced by the fire, which is under investigation.
