A tractor trailer fire consumed twelve trailers full of donations at a Goodwill outlet in Colorado on Monday morning.
The blaze happened on October 25th in Colorado Springs, Colorado just after 5 a.m.
According to the Colorado Springs Fire Department spokesperson Capt. Mike Smaldino, “We got a report of a trailer that was on fire at the Goodwill [at Hancock and Academy]. We have a station that’s right up the street, and when they left the station they could see a glow in the air.”
By the time firefighters arrived, the flames had already spread to multiple trailers, reported KKTV.
#ColoradoSpringsFire is on scene at 2855 S ACADEMY BL; GOODWILL INDUSTRIES with multiple semi trailers fully involved. Engines 11/8 and Truck 8 on scene using multiple hoselines and the aerial to put out the fire pic.twitter.com/h1dvTIPq01
— CSFD PIO (@CSFDPIO) October 25, 2021
“In total, there are 26 trailers that are back there; 12 of them had fire in them at some point or are still on fire right now [at 7:15 a.m.]. … They’re just all close to each other, so when one’s on fire, the fire as it gets outside the box just spreads to the next one.”
“It sounds like they were all completely full. So what we’re doing, we’re working with Goodwill right now trying to get the uninvolved trailers out of there so we can kind of narrow it down and, start unfortunately, pulling out all that furniture and clothing that are in those trailers.”
Investigators are now investigating a tip that someone was in the area when the flames began.
Update- Arrival footage of Battalion 2 at Goodwill Fire. The bulk of the fire is now out. We are waiting on @CSUtilities heavy equipment to get on scene so we can start overhaul. In total, 12 of 26 trailers involved in fire. Fire is under investigation. No injuries at this time pic.twitter.com/qfRgLABJXP
— CSFD PIO (@CSFDPIO) October 25, 2021
“We’re working with police right now trying to figure out with witnesses, what they saw,” Smaldino said. “… They’re trailers that have been sitting out there, so we don’t know if there was any sort of ignition source that’s out there, so something that would have started it on fire.”
Luckily, the building itself was not damaged by the fire, but the outlet store and donation center are still closed until further notice.
“Between the flames and the water used to extinguish the blaze, very little if anything in the trailers is salvageable,” Smaldino said.
“I would say it’s probably highly likely that 12 trailers are completely demolished.”