The fire is located near the former Crosley building on Arlington Street, but Washington said the flames never affected the building. Despite that, the large fire did spread to another unknown building nearby.
The fire is also relatively close to the American Sign Museum on Monmouth Avenue, but the sign museum said it has been unaffected. The sign museum tweeted that it would be closed Saturday due to the fire.
Smoke plumes from the fire could be seen from miles away as far as Buttermilk Pike in Northern Kentucky.
Around 11:45 a.m., Washington said that crews had knocked out the main body of the fire, but they were working to extinguish flames that had spread throughout the structure.
“We have a control on it right now,” Washington said. “We’re just trying to make sure that it does not enter any other structures.”
He also said they are defensively and cautiously fighting the fire due to structural collapse in the building. Washington said no one has been injured in the fire.
“As a fire chief, these are the most dangerous fires, different than structural, residential fires,” Washington said. “This is a situation of the unknown.”
Crews are conducting aerial recon to get a better look at the fire’s progression as well as any hazards. Washington said at this time they’re unsure what caused the structural fire.
“We’re going to continue to fight for awhile more today, and eventually they’ll probably bring in some heavy equipment to start tearing the building apart,” Washington said. “We’ll have a presence here for quite awhile.”
Washington said he quickly advanced the fire all the way to a 6-alarm fire once on scene, which entails dozens of crews responding to the incident. According to the Cincinnati Fire Department, each alarm entails two engines and a truck to respond as well as mutual aid from surrounding fire departments.
He said there are 120 CFD firefighters and 25 fire companies attending to the fire as well as aid from Hamilton County, Norwood, Green Township and Colerain Township fire departments.
The last 6-alarm fire Washington could remember was the Queen City Barrel fire in Lower Price Hill, which happened in 2004. That fire caused $5 million in damage to a 400,000-square-foot container-recycling facility.
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