Flames heavily damage A-1 Performance car shop

Firefighters deal with a blaze Wednesdayat A-1 Performance, 6211 N.E. 88th St., east of Hazel Dell. (BATTALION CHIEF KEVIN GRIFFEE/Vancouver Fire Depar)

Several employees of the A-1 Performance auto shop escaped unhurt Wednesday afternoon before a fast-moving blaze heavily damaged the building at 6211 N.E. 88th St., east of Hazel Dell.

The Vancouver Fire Department was called to the scene about 1:55 p.m. Employees said they'd used a garden hose to douse a fire on a machine inside, said Capt. Bill Garlington.

The business rebuilds transmissions for high-performance vehicles.

Firefighters initially were only asked to check to make sure the fire in the machine was out.

But when the first crews arrived at 2:02 p.m. they saw heavy smoke that soon would turn to flames, so they radioed for more engines and crews.

About 27 members of the fire department with several rigs worked on the blaze, but were ordered not to go inside because part of the roof collapsed and it was too dangerous, Garlington said.

He said the high-ceilinged, one-story older shop building was about 40 by 60 feet and made of wood timbers with metal siding.

Once heavy flames were under control, firefighters had to call in a backhoe to tear down a wall and shelves so they could get inside and extinguish remaining smoldering areas.

In the end, the main building was heavily damaged, but a smaller attached building didn't appear damaged, Garlington said. A travel trailer that was near the fire had some melted vents and minor damage.

The cause was an oil line on some machinery that broke. It spewed oil on a hot machine and it ignited, said a Clark County deputy fire marshal.

Damage was estimated at $200,000 to the building and $100,000 to its contents, Garlington said.

Grass fire on Lower River Road

As Vancouver firefighters were dealing with the fire at A-1 Performance, a large grass fire was reported at the end of Northwest Lower River Road.

Covering for Vancouver at 2:55 p.m., Clark County Fire District 6 crews went to the 100 by 800-foot fire that destroyed an outbuilding and what looked like a travel trailer or mobile home, Garlington said.

No one was reported injured. Crews from the state Department of Natural Resources, which owns the land, were called in to deal with hot spots.

John Branton: 360-735-4513 or john.branton@columbian.com.