Humboldt building destroyed in blaze
Owner plans to rebuild
-Messenger photo by Bill Shea <br> This building at 18 Eighth St. S. was destroyed by fire Wednesday afternoon. No one was injured, and the cause of the blaze remains under investigation. Equipment for Hoag’s Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning and Electrical was housed in the building.
-Messenger photo by Bill Shea <br> Barricades were put up near a burned-out building in Humboldt Wednesday afternoon. A pickup and skid loader were among the items inside that were destroyed.
-Messenger photo by Bill Shea <br> This building at 18 Eighth St. S. was destroyed by fire Wednesday afternoon. No one was injured, and the cause of the blaze remains under investigation. Equipment for Hoag’s Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning and Electrical was housed in the building.
-Messenger photo by Bill Shea <br> Barricades were put up near a burned-out building in Humboldt Wednesday afternoon. A pickup and skid loader were among the items inside that were destroyed.
Trending
HUMBOLDT -- A building near downtown Humboldt that housed vehicles and equipment for a plumbing and heating company was destroyed in a Wednesday afternoon fire.
The structure at 18 Eighth St. S. was completely engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at about 12:30 p.m. Part of its roof collapsed.
No one was injured. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Despite the immense damage, Duane Zeller, who owns the building said "it could have been worse."
"Nobody got hurt," he said. "That's the main thing."
Zeller, of Humboldt, owns Hoag's Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning & Electrical. The main office of that business is at Sumner Avenue and Eighth Street South, just down the street from the building that burned.
The fire was reported at 12:25 p.m.
Zeller said no one was in the building when the fire started. He said he was eating lunch in a restaurant just up the block on Sumner Avenue when someone from his business notified him of the fire.
Lt. Trey Thompson of the Humboldt Fire Department said the building was "fully involved" in flames when the first fire truck arrived.
Thompson said a two and a half inch diameter hose line was initially used to control the fire. Then firefighters used two smaller hose lines to try to get inside to completely extinguish it. However, the roof started to collapse. Thompson said at that point, the firefighters got out of the building and sprayed water on it from the outside.
A pickup, trailer, skid loader and scissor lift were in the building. All of them were destroyed.
Zeller said the building was about 10 years old.
He said he will build a new structure and replace the equipment that was lost.
Humboldt firefighters were assisted at the scene by firefighters from Bode, Livermore, and Renwick; ambulance crews from Humboldt Community Memorial Hospital; Humboldt police; Humboldt County sheriff's deputies and The Humboldt County Emergency Management Agency.
Humboldt firefighters returned to their station at about 3:30 p.m.