INDIANAPOLIS — Fire crews battled a large fire at Hanna Auto Salvage on the southwest side for more than 24 hours.
The fire started around 6:30 Saturday morning in the salvage yard and was already "very large" when crews arrived, according to Wayne Township Fire Division Chief Courtney Rice. About half of a 40x40x30 pile of cars and scrap was on fire.
The last three pieces of firefighting equipment left the scene around 11 a.m. Sunday.
Firefighters say no employees were working at the time of the fire.
6:29 AM - #IFD, @Decaturtwpfire & @INDairport FD, assisting @Waynetwpfire on scene at 3501 W Kelly St with large fire at Hanna Tow Yard. Crews working hard to maintain sufficient water supply along with foam from airport crash tuck to extinguish blaze. pic.twitter.com/z9siIxesGl
— Indianapolis Fire Department 🚒 (@IFD_NEWS) September 11, 2021
The Wayne Township Fire Department said long distances to get to water supplies and the fire itself slowed the initial firefight.
In addition to knocking out the fire, firefighters say all of the material has to be moved so it can be fully extinguished.
"It's not a simple fire at all," Rice said. "We have almost 2.5 miles of hose on the ground to try to get water from the water sources to where we need it on the property."
Rice said the cars were burning at 1,200 degrees and there is no word yet on the cause of the fire.
Bn20 on scene with @Waynetwpfire @IFD_NEWS west side scrap yard fire @Speedway_IN @FOX59 @wrtv @WTHRDesk pic.twitter.com/0JD6ZvjLb3
— Speedway Fire Dept. (@SPEEDWAYFIRE) September 11, 2021
