MARIETTA, OKLAHOMA (KOKH) — The Love County Fire Department released additional information on the Dollar Tree Distribution Center fire on Friday.
The department said the dispatch center received a call about the fire shortly before 8 a.m. on Friday, August 16.
The center was hit by an EF4 tornado in April and the contents of the building were piled into several large heaps for removal.
Piles of rubble of varying sizes were burning; some were over three meters high and several hundred meters long.
The tornado also damaged the distribution center’s water supply, meaning none of the fire hydrants on site were working.
A fire alarm was issued for all 15 fire departments in Love County.
In addition, engines, tankers and crew were requested from Callisburg, Lindsay and Muenster, Texas, along with tankers from Kingston and Lebanon in Marshall County, Oklahoma.
The Love County Fire Department said that due to the height of the debris, it was not possible to completely extinguish the fire, but firefighters were able to contain the flames so that the rest of the warehouse did not catch fire.
Emergency management coordinated its work with Dollar Tree and its contractors to coordinate firefighting efforts by industrial fire departments.
The contract workers took over the work at around 6:30 p.m. on Friday, after the fire brigade had already been on site for eleven hours.
Love County EMS treated several firefighters for heat-related issues and even transported one firefighter to the hospital for further evaluation.
The firefighter was released later that evening and returned home.
According to official information, the cause of the fire is unknown.
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