Two buildings at Foothills Lumber damaged in fire

A structure fire Tuesday afternoon in the lumber yard of Foothills Hardware just off of Foothills Boulevard and 38th Street caused serious damage to two buildings. No injuries were reported.

A third steel building in close proximity suffered exterior smoke and heat damage as well as burnt insulation in the ceiling, but was otherwise unscathed due to the quick actions of the firefighters, said Charly McMurdie, Rural/Metro public information officer.

Rural/Metro was alerted to the fire at 1:24 p.m., and arrived on scene with three engines and a rescue vehicle at 1:29 p.m.

The fire started in a one-story building, which employees said was the office of the yard foreman, and spread to a second structure to the east which was a storage unit for yard materials.

Jan Wilton, who works in an office building across from the lumber yard, had a front row seat of the blaze.

"It was very quick," she said. "When I looked out my front window I saw flames just starting to peak through the roof, and by the time I called headquarters, it was fully engulfed. It was that fast, less than a minute. There were huge flames, which were twice the height of the building, so about 20 feet or so in the air. The smoke was intense for a while when the flames were at their peak. "

After arriving on scene, Rural/Metro had the fire under control by 1:52 p.m. Wilton said the response time was great.

"The firefighters had it out pretty fast actually," she said. "I was impressed by the efficiency of everybody. They did a great job. Once they started shooting water on it, that was it."

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

"The damage is pretty bad," McMurdie told the Yuma Sun at the scene of the fire. "The fire inspectors are going in and doing their job right now."

This story was updated at 8:44 p.m.