HARTFORD -- A massive fire engulfed Central Auto garage and Maxim Road in Hartford early Tuesday morning.
The fire was at 195 Maxim Road near Brainard Airport inside an industrial complex.
IT took several hours to extinguish the bulk of the fire. A nearby business owner said they saw the fire break out around 5 a.m., and the fire seemed to reach 100 feet into the air.
Lindsey Rutka, with Hartford Jet, said, “It was a sizable fire, some of the flames were about 100 or 200 feet in the air and small explosions were going off, fuel tanks or propane tanks or something was going.”
District Chief, Alvaro Cucuta, Hartford Fire Dept, said, “ The fuel tanks in there they’re made of plastic, so with the intense heat plastic melts, so now you add fuel to the fire, so that’s what created the plumes. I also have to say they have acetylene tank, propane tanks in there that could have created a major hazard over however quick thinking with our firefighters and being proactive they kept those tanks cool.”
The four trucks inside that building were a total loss, other vehicles outside of the building were also damaged. But the company was still able to operate today, all while what was left of their garage continue to burn. All employees were out of the building when the fire started.
Hartford fire department confirmed a small amount of firefighting foam was used to put out this fire. MDC and DEEP were on scene to make sure none of the chemicals went into the water supply.
Because of its close proximity to the fire Brainard airport was shut down for much of morning due to the heavy smoke. They reopened just before noon today.
The State fire Marshall’s office is still investigating the cause of that fire.
