Roof collapses, dense smoke billows from 3-alarm fire at auto salvage yard

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Milwaukee firefighters battled a massive, three-alarm fire at Roz Auto Salvage -- an auto salvage yard near 13th and Ramsey on Thursday afternoon, April 24th. The fire caused significant damage to one building on the salvage yard, and some vehicles outside of it. We're told the roof of the affected building collapsed, but no one was injured.

Milwaukee Fire Department Assistant Chief Dan Lipski says firefighters were called to the scene shortly before noon, and found a building heavily involved in fire.

Fire crews were first called out to the scene after someone smelled gas.

Lipski says someone yelled "fire" and encouraged everyone inside the auto salvage yard to get out.

It is unclear how many people were inside, but the auto salvage yard was was open and occupied.

The fire was quickly upgraded to a third alarm due to the volume of the fire, and the reports of explosions in and around the building.

Loretta Plizka was just leaving her home when she heard a "big boom" coming from the area where the salvage yard sits.

"My husband was outside and I went out and I said 'Did you hear the boom?' And he said 'yeah,' and I said 'okay' -- and then we heard another one -- and the smoke started billowing, real black, and we knew something was wrong," Plizka said.

Lipski says there were explosions being heard as crews battled the fire -- but says the very heavy volume of fire and thick black smoke prevented fire crews from figuring out what was exploding -- "but I think we can all make some educated guesses that if you have an auto scrap yard -- they probably have cutting torches or propane and gasoline tanks," Lipski said.

Lipski says the fire was brought under control quickly -- and says police took action to remove some neighbors in the area from their residences -- which was done as a precaution in case the "worst case scenario" would happen.

Those residents have been allowed back in their homes.

The building where the fire occurred appears to be used for storage, and/or work with motors and transmissions.

Lipski says a big issue with this fire was that the auto salvage yard contains a lot of machinery, vehicles and motors on high shelves -- which can be challenging for firefighters.

Lipski says some salvaged cars caught fire -- and fire crews heard the sounds of tires popping -- something that can be startling, but something that is not uncommon when battling a fire at an auto salvage yard.

Around 2:45 p.m., Lipski said fire crews would be battling hot spots for another hour to an hour-and-a-half. However, there is no more smoke or active fire that can be viewed from the street.

"The infrastructure of the building was severely damaged, so we are taking a very cautious approach as we make entry into the building to extinguish any remaining hot spots," Lipski said.

Lipski says fire crews arrived on scene in just three minutes -- and says this quick response helped to avoid the fire spreading to attached buildings.

"I am thankful for the efforts of the men and women who responded and acted extremely professionally." Lipski said.

Officials say the Airport Spur was temporarily closed due to the smoke. It has since reopened to traffic.

The Milwaukee Police Department and Milwaukee Fire Department are investigating and working to determine a cause of this fire.

There is no damage estimate at this time.

According to the company's website, Roz Auto is family owned and operated for 50 years, with thousands of vehicles and tens of thousands of parts.





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