Fire destroyed the Escalated Greens warehouse and offices at 1200 Birkes Road Thursday, Jan. 9, a plant where medical marijuana is produced and processed.
The spectacular blaze and resulting smoke plumb were visible for miles around.
No one was injured in what is described as the largest fire in Eufaula since the burning of the high school in 1994 which caused almost $3 million in damages.
The school fire was caused by an arsonist who also burned the First Baptist Church and Church of Christ.
Investigators are looking into the cause of Thursday’s fire, which destroyed one of the city’s largest buildings, a 27,000 square foot structure where marijuana was grown, and medications manufactured.
Fire Chief Chad French estimated the damage at $3 mil- lion.
The department received the call about the fire at 3:08 p.m.
It is believed to have begun in the northwest corner of the building.
“We were unable to gain access to the back of the building because the steel gates were not operating. The owners had arrived and informed us that neither the gate nor the doors were operating. I believe the reason is that the fire had disabled the unlocking key card system that opens all entry points,” French said.
He said local businessman Zach McQuay, who has a business near the site, had some equipment that allowed firefighters to get through the steel gates.
“We were also working on making an entry point on the south side of the building by cutting the guard railing and removing the fencing so we could get our fire engines to the rear of the building,” French said.
McQuay sent one of his employees to help fire fighters with a front end loader. “This allowed us to gain two entry points to the rear. One through the steel gates once removed, and the second through the metal fencing on the south side of the building once we cut through the guard railing with our saw,” French said.
The enormous size of the building prompted French to call for help from other fire departments throughout Mc-Intosh and Pittsburg counties.
About 10 fire departments responded and Task Force 46.
There were 20 fire trucks and 46 firefighters on scene to fight the blaze.
“It took approximately 6 hours to extinguish the bulk of the fire,” French said.
At that point firefighters from other districts were released to return to their areas, but Eufaula firefighters remained until about 2 a.m. Friday morning.
“It took about 11 hours to extinguish the fire,” he said. “We had a few flair ups in the front office building because of the inside walls being brick and the exterior being metal. The material between them was difficult to access and get water on.”
A fire marshal came to the site Friday morning and determined that the fire did originate in the northwest corner of the building as French suspected.
“That’s where I originally saw the smoke,” he said.
There were no injuries of firefighters or civilians.
“While this is a great loss to the business owners, their customers and the property owner, no one was injured. No one getting injured, and no loss of life, that is a good day as a firefighter,” French said. “We are here to serve our community, to save property and save lives the best we can.”
The chief extended his gratitude all of the fire departments and other agencies who responded, including Vivian FD, Hanna FD, Porum Landing FD, FAIC FD, Texanna FD, Central High FD, Shady Grove FD, Lotawatah FD, #9 FD, Crowder FD, Emergency Management Leslie Philips, Eufaula Police Officers and McIntosh county deputies.
Also, Zach McQuay for his assistance.
