EVANSVILLE, Ind.  — Firefighters remain on the scene of a fire in Evansville, Indiana. The blaze in southwestern Indiana left an Evansville warehouse in ruins and produced a smoke plume visible for miles around. 

What You Need To Know

  • Evansville Fire Department battled a massive warehouse fire Monday morning

  • No one was injured

  • Henderson Fire Department also assisted and the Indiana State Fire Marshall is helping to determine a cause

  • Because of the scope of the fire ATF has been called in and will lead the investigation.

Evansville Fire Department battalion chief, Mike Larson, said about “every truck in the city” as well as one fire unit from Henderson, Kentucky, had responded to the warehouse fire, which was reported about 4:40 a.m. CDT Monday. He told the Evansville Courier & Press the fire was contained as of 9:15 a.m. but fires were still burning inside the warehouse and neighboring buildings.

Larson told Spectrum News 1, firefighters would most likely remain on the scene through the night making sure hot spots are extinguished. He said because the roof caved in, it takes time to make sure spots under the buried areas are put out.

Larson confirmed no one was injured the blaze. Evansville fire received helped from neighboring Henderson, Kentucky fire department.

“They did bring a ladder truck over this morning from Henderson Kentucky and they definitely played a part in containing the fire,” said Larson.

Spectrum News 1 acquired video from Evansville Aerial and you can see it in the video player attached to this story. You get a complete view of the destruction caused by the fire.

Evansville resident Robert Goodrich captured the fire with his phone on this way to work Monday morning. The blaze, which could be seen for miles, lit up the early morning sky. Goodrich gave Spectrum News 1 permission to share his post and his video.

Fire in Evansville on my way to work. Probably the craziest fire I have seen in person. Prayers to all helping fight the fire. Sorry for the annoying commentary. It was unreal

Posted by Robert Goodrich on Monday, October 17, 2022

Spectrum News 1 meteorologist Chris Havely reports the smoke plume from the fire could be seen on radar, drifting over the Ohio River and into Kentucky skies.

Radar image of smoke plume from Evansville fire

According to Larson, the crews performed what’s called a defensive fire—crews stayed outside. Firefighters used aerial ladder trucks and sprayed elevated streams of water to keep the fire contained and keep it from spreading.

Larson added, “So even though we had quite a large loss with that warehouse, we were able to keep it contained that warehouse and away from some businesses, particularly on the south side that were relatively close.”

The Indiana State Fire Marshall is working with Evansville fire to determine a cause. The fire department has also contacted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which is bringing in a national response team because of the size and complexity of the fire. Larson says ATF will be taking the lead on the investigation.

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