Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal
A fire in East Carson City that destroyed a business office Tuesday was started when employees tried to thaw frozen water pipes with an open flame, said Battalion Chief Dan Shirey.
Firefighters were called out to Art Wilson Co., 5251 Brick Road, about 12:30 p.m. Shirey said when crews arrived, smoke was billowing from underneath the double-wide mobile home.
"We tried to apply water to the underside to try to stop it from getting into walls and we put crews on the inside and outside, peeling away walls trying to get at it," said Shirey.
"It was spreading faster than we could contain it," he said.
With the fire underneath eating away at the floors, racing up the walls and over the head of the firefighters, the crews were pulled out.
"It got to be too much of a hostile environment and we had to withdraw from the structure," he said. "We were trying to put fire out in areas that were too high of a risk."
Shirey said employee reported they had used a forced air heater with an open flame to try to thaw frozen water pipes underneath the structure.
"They got a little too close and accidentally started the fire," said Shirey.
None of the employees was injured, though a fire fighter rolled his ankle exiting the building and was taken the hospital.
The building was destroyed.
The double-wide was used as office space for Art Wilson Co., a company that specializes in soil amendments and fertilizers.