PERU, Ind. — An investigation is underway after a large fire erupted at a warehouse housing arcade games Wednesday night near Peru.
Multiple fire departments in the area were dispatched shortly before 8 p.m. to Dave’s Amusement warehouse, located at C.R. 4028 W. 200 N., in response to reports of a large industrial fire being reported in the area. The warehouse is located near the Peru Municipal Airport east of U.S. 31.
Cass County EMA Director Rocky Buffum told FOX59/CBS4 that it took a collaborative effort from multiple agencies to bring the fire under control at the 70,000-square-foot facility.
“It’s pretty much down right now but when we first got here, there was a very large fireball in the sky visible for quite a ways away,” Buffum said. “Lots of fire departments worked very hard, showed some great teamwork and were able to get it to the point you see now.”
Buffum said the warehouse is located in a rural area, which made it difficult for firefighters to effectively respond. No firefighters or civilians were injured during the incident.
Buffum added that the presence of high winds and a limited water supply in a rural area increased the workload for first responders.
“This scale of fire is kind of rare in this area. We see maybe a couple a year. This was about a 70,000-square-foot facility in a rural area so there is not a lot of water supply,” Buffum said. “That’s why you see a lot of trucks in the background shuttling water in. There are no fire hydrants out here. That makes firefighting a lot more challenging. The limited water supply, the large area and it’s in a remote area which is hard to access.”
As of this article’s publication, the fire has not been completely put out as fire crews transported tens of thousands of gallons of water to douse the flames.
Buffum confirmed the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office is currently on the scene investigating the circumstances surrounding the large fire.
Buffum said crews will continue working to extinguish the remaining flames in the area overnight and into the early morning hours on Thursday.
The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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