Tyler Stabile | Dispatch Heavy smoke pours out of the Dick Cold Storage warehouse as firefighters battle the Hilltop blaze. Cooling systems used in appliances in the building on Valleyview Drive use anhydrous ammonia, which complicated firefighters' task. 
Tyler Stabile | Dispatch Firefighters spray water on hot spots at the Dick Cold Stoarge warehouse. The fire, which started on Saturday, continued to smolder Monday. 
Eric Albrecht | Dispatch A fire smolders at WestRock Recycling Center on Marion Road. The Aug. 12 fire yesterday sent smoke through the South Side neighborhood surrounding the facility. By Emily Tate The Columbus Dispatch • Tuesday August 23, 2016 7:33 AM
Industrial fires are some of the most challenging that firefighters face, and a recent pair of them in Columbus has caused concern among nearby residents.
Fires such as the one that ignited Friday night at the Dick Cold Storage warehouse on the Hilltop and continues to burn, are unpredictable.
It just takes one spark, or one tossed cigarette, and an acre of the city can be consumed in a matter of minutes, said Battalion Chief Steve Martin, spokesman for the Columbus Division of Fire.
Firefighters and neighbors don’t often know what’s contained in these facilities. There could be explosives or toxic materials that could affect area homes and escalate the threat.
That’s what concerns Jim Griffin, chairman of the Columbus South Side Area Commission.
“Nobody wants those kinds of fires. Period,” Griffin said. “But then you don’t know what kind of combustibles are kept onsite. ... Nobody wants to breathe in chemicals that could be harmful.”
The most recent South Side fire occurred a little more than a week ago, at the WestRock Recycling Center on Marion Road. It was the latest in a series of industrial fires on the South Side since 2011.
More than 100 firefighters worked to quell that Aug. 12 fire as dark smoke blanketed south Columbus. No one was injured, but many residents fled their homes to avoid suspected toxic fumes.
Although the smoke was no more toxic than an average house fire, Martin said, it probably was wise for those residents to leave the area.
“No smoke is good smoke to inhale,” Martin said.
A warehouse is often a storage space that Martin described as a “shell.” Any added intricacies to the building can promote the fire’s growth.
The Dick Cold Storage fire, which has required more than 400 firefighters at the 144,000-square-foot warehouse on Valleyview Drive since Friday, has been one of the more complicated ones, Martin said. The building contained cold storage units such as refrigerators, freezers and walk-in coolers.
The cooling systems used in those appliances use anhydrous ammonia, which further complicated the firefighters’ task. The chemical “attacks water,” including moisture that could be found on someone’s exposed skin, Martin said.
One thing warehouses often have in common are their steel-truss roofs, which can become unstable in less than 20 minutes, Martin said. It takes the firefighters an average of eight minutes to arrive once they get a call, leaving them just 10 minutes or so to douse the blaze before the roof starts to go.
With the Hilltop fire, firefighters eventually backed out of the building because the roof was collapsing.
Once it starts, a warehouse fire can burn for up to two weeks, Martin said.
That might be the case with the fire at Dick Cold Storage, which has been contained but had not yet been extinguished as of Monday night. The fire is still consuming fuel trapped beneath the roof where water can’t reach, Martin said. When the fuel burns out, the fire will too.
Officials have not yet released the cause of either fire.
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Fire guts Hilltop cold-storage warehouse
Share this photo Tyler Stabile | Dispatch Firefighters continue to spray water towards hot-spots after a fire destroyed a warehouse that housed Dick Cold Storage at 3080 Valleyview Drive in Columbus. 
Share this photo Tyler Stabile | Dispatch Firefighters continue to spray water towards hot-spots after a fire destroyed a warehouse that housed Dick Cold Storage at 3080 Valleyview Drive in Columbus. 
Share this photo Tyler Stabile | Dispatch Firefighters continue to spray water towards hot-spots after a fire destroyed a warehouse that housed Dick Cold Storage at 3080 Valleyview Drive in Columbus. 
Share this photo Tyler Stabile | Dispatch Firefighters continue to spray water towards hot-spots after a fire destroyed a warehouse that housed Dick Cold Storage at 3080 Valleyview Drive in Columbus. 
Share this photo Tyler Stabile | Dispatch Firefighters battle a blaze at a warehouse in the 3000 block of Valleyview Drive in Columbus on the evening of Friday. 
Share this photo Tyler Stabile | Dispatch Firefighters battle a blaze at a warehouse in the 3000 block of Valleyview Drive in Columbus on the evening of Friday. 
Share this photo Tyler Stabile | Dispatch Firefighters battle a blaze at a warehouse in the 3000 block of Valleyview Drive in Columbus on the evening of Friday. 
Share this photo Tyler Stabile | Dispatch Firefighters battle a blaze at a warehouse in the 3000 block of Valleyview Drive in Columbus on the evening of Friday. 
Share this photo Tyler Stabile | Dispatch Residents at the Valleyview Mobile Home Park watch as firefighters battle a blaze at a warehouse in the 3000 block of Valleyview Drive in Columbus. 
Share this photo Tyler Stabile | Dispatch Residents at the Valleyview Mobile Home Park watch as firefighters battle a blaze at a warehouse in the 3000 block of Valleyview Drive in Columbus. Share this photo Tyler Stabile | Dispatch Firefighters battle a blaze at a warehouse in the 3000 block of Valleyview Drive in Columbus on the evening of Friday.
Tyler Stabile | Dispatch Firefighters battle a blaze at a warehouse in the 3000 block of Valleyview Drive in Columbus on Friday. 
By Rick Rouan The Columbus Dispatch • Sunday August 21, 2016 6:54 AM
A cold-storage facility used to hold frozen food was gutted by a fire that began Friday night and continued to burn Saturday.
Columbus firefighters doused the few remaining hot spots with water Saturday afternoon at the 144,000-square-foot warehouse that housed Dick Cold Storage at 3080 Valleyview Drive on the Hilltop.
No one was injured in the fire.
The warehouse mostly held frozen food, said Battallion Chief Steve Martin, Columbus Fire Division spokesman. Initial reports said the warehouse housed Market Day, a frozen-food provider for school fundraisers, but that company went out of business.
Firefighters started attacking the blaze with water around 9 p.m. Friday but backed off when they learned that the cooling system used to freeze food required anhydrous ammonia, he said.
The chemical “attacks water,” including moisture that could be on someone’s exposed skin, Martin said.
Hazardous-materials cleanup workers were called to monitor the scene. Anyone within a third of a mile of the facility was evacuated, but they were allowed to return Saturday morning.
Firefighters also feared that the warehouse might collapse while they were trying to extinguish the blaze, Martin said. Warehouses use lightweight steel-truss roofing that often is exposed, and Martin said it takes only about 10 minutes for it to weaken under intense heat.
Firefighters pulled back and let the fire burn itself out, Martin said. Once they determined that the anhydrous ammonia was not a problem, they began to douse the remaining hot spots with water.
“We decided it wasn’t worth risking our lives for,” he said. “We shut down all the water and pulled out all the trucks.”