A large fire ripped through a warehouse in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, destroying several businesses in the process.
The fire was reported just before 6:30 a.m. at an industrial property along the 1500 block of Lehigh Drive in West Easton, officials said.
On social media, the Upper Nazareth Fire Department shared some images of the incident as it happened.
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The fire continued throughout the day and smoke was still in the air late Tuesday afternoon. Firefighters had to cut power to more than 1,000 people in order to safely fight the flames. They also didn’t have enough water supply, needing to borrow from surrounding agencies and draw from the river.
“You just manage it with the resources you have to the best of your ability. Nobody got hurt and that’s the number one concern,” West Easton Volunteer Fire Company Chief William Bogari said.
The warehouse was the location of several businesses, including a plastic recycling company, a medical waste company and a mechanic shop.
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“It looks like a plane crashed into the buildings and they’re destroyed. There’s no repairing anything here," Jeff Mesler, a business owner, said.
Mesler recently launched Gladiator Fibers after struggling to get it off the ground. It was badly damaged during Tuesday’s fire.
“We’re a small business. You put everything you’ve got into something and then when you see it doesn’t work out, something like this happens, it just takes everything out of you,” Mesler said.
Mesler told NBC10 none of the businesses damaged in the fire can be salvaged.
“Seventy-five, eighty people, being unemployed now at this point," he said.
Mesler told NBC10 he hopes insurance can take care of the damage costs. He’s not ready to give up his business aspirations just yet.
“We’re all a victim of it unfortunately. You know, how it started, nobody really knows,” he said.
Officials are still investigating the cause of the fire. Responding hazmat crews also tested the air and water since some of the companies damaged by the fire deal with hazardous waste. So far everything is clear, according to officials.
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