Five-alarm fire engulfs Plainfield warehouse, collapses roof

(12/12/06) PLAINFIELD ? Firefighters from several towns descended on a five-alarm fire at a mattress warehouse on Central Avenue in Plainfield Tuesday morning. Ironically, the flames broke out a mere

News 12 Staff

Dec 12, 2006, 11:40 PM

Updated 6,511 days ago

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(12/12/06) PLAINFIELD ? Firefighters from several towns descended on a five-alarm fire at a mattress warehouse on Central Avenue in Plainfield Tuesday morning.
Ironically, the flames broke out a mere 10 feet from the Plainfield Fire Department headquarters. The fire?s proximity to the headquarters allowed for firefighters to quickly jump in and take care of the situation. Firefighters say the structure had a truss roof, which often collapses in the event of a fire. In this case, their predictions proved correct. Those near the scene say they heard an ominous creaking sound just before the roof came down.
Fire officials say due to the truss roof, they had to initiate what?s known as a defensive operation in which the fire is attacked from the outside. Firefighters say the job was made even more difficult by the amount of foam rubber and wood inside the warehouse, which acted as fuel to the fire. Crews were eventually able to extinguish the flames. No one was hurt in the incident, and the cause is under investigation.