Early morning fire in Saline Co. called total loss of warehouse - KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar Bluff

Early morning fire in Saline Co. called total loss of warehouse

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Amber Ruch - email
Warehouse called total loss after fire at auto parts business. Warehouse called total loss after fire at auto parts business.
Eldorado fire chief estimates there was about $5 million worth of damage. Eldorado fire chief estimates there was about $5 million worth of damage.
SALINE COUNTY, IL (KFVS) -

A fire at Wallace Auto Parts and Services around 3 a.m. Tuesday was a total loss of a warehouse full of farm and mining equipment.

The building is located on Highway 34, about a half-mile north of the Harrisburg-Raleigh Airport in Saline County.

Eldorado Fire Chief Mike McKinnies says he estimates about $5 million worth of equipment was lost in the fire. He says Eldorado, Harrisburg and Galatia fire departments had a total of 44 fire fighters fighting the fire. McKinnies says Eldorado fire fighters were still there at 1 p.m. putting out some hot spots.

Rod Wallace, owner of the business, says the company production lines include Diesel Powered Mining Equipment, Agricultural Equipment and Attachments, plus Tilt Utility Trailers. Parts of all the equipment were lost in the fire. Wallace Auto and Parts ships out products all over North America.

Wallace says he had about 20 workers who normally work in the 20,000 square foot building. He says most will be moved over to another building to work there, but five may be laid off for a bit.

According to Wallace, he is confident that this will not affect them on a long-term status. He plans on finding another building close by to work out of on a temporary basis until they can get back on their feet. Wallace said this will not stop production, but will certainly slow it down. He added that only their cat was in the warehouse at the time of the fire, but managed to get out in time.

Chief McKinnies says that he called in the Fire Marshal to investigate the cause of the fire. He said they have some equipment coming in to sort through the building and clean it out in hopes to find what may have started the fire.

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