MINOCQUA – A late morning fire has heavily damaged Advanced Automotive in Minocqua Tuesday. Nine fire departments along with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources were on the scene on Frank Drive for several hours.
Minocqua Fire Chief Rich Carani said they were dispatched out at 10:45 a.m. returning to quarters at about 2:30 p.m. Other departments then answered the mutual aid call.
At one time, flames were 30 to 40 feet in the air as small pine trees also ignited.
No injuries were reported either to firefighters or to shop personnel.
Chief Carani attributes the cause of the fire to unattended burning of cardboard boxes.
The son of the owner said he was burning cardboard on the north side of the automotive repair shop, went inside and when he returned the fire had spread to a pile of tires and then to the steel pole building itself.
The front service bays sustained fire and smoke damage. The back bays appear OK, said the chief. He said the town crew brought a front-end loader to turn over the tires so they could extinguish any hot spots using both water and foam.
Environmental personnel from the DNR are determining any required hazardous waste cleanup from the burnt tires and petroleum products within the shop.
