When firefighters saw the tall tower of smoke, SBM Fire Chief Charlie Smith says they knew help would be needed. There were reports the black plume was visible as far away as downtown St. Paul.
“When I arrived, I called for a second alarm immediately just due to the volume of fire,” said Chief Smith. “Plus staffing during the day for us can be lighter than what we need, so our theory is we need to get people rolling sooner than later. We don’t want to wait and see.”
Smith says the fire grew to fifty feet tall and was still expanding as fire crews were setting up.
“It was a combination of different kinds of combustibles. There was some plastic, dock parts, patio furniture, fertilizer, a whole bunch of stuff, whatever they had on those racks.”
Fire crews had it under control in about 25 minutes, and completely out within two hours. After the third alarm, there were 50 firefighters on the scene from 9 different departments. It may be the first time a third alarm was placed through the relatively new Mutual Aid Box Alarm System in Anoka County.
“All I have to do as the incident commander is say, ‘send me a second alarm assignment to this location.’ It’s already programmed at the dispatch center on what resources will be coming on that second alarm. They automatically are dispatched and respond.”
Smith says Anoka County dispatchers take care of it all with the new system that was programmed into computers last year. When a second alarm is called, the program knows who to notify. It’s the industry standard now around the country.
“In the old days, I would have to pick and choose what department I needed and what type of equipment. This affords the incident commander to not have to worry about that,” said Smith.
In the end, Smith says the main building was protected and is open for business.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. One firefighter was treated at the scene for minor injuries.
