The Vancouver Fire Department responded to two commercial fires overnight Wednesday, saving both businesses from destruction.
Firefighters were first dispatched to MAACO Collision Repair and Auto Painting, 2735 N.E. Andresen Road, according to a news release from the fire department.
The first arriving crew reached the business within six minutes, at 10:19 p.m., and found the one-story auto shop on fire, the department said.
MAACO is located directly behind Living Hope Church. The church’s massive parking lot was used as a staging area and command post during the response.
The shop’s construction includes metal walls and roof; the fire department noted that due to the “industrial nature” of the materials, as well as the hemmed-in location of the building, crews had to fight the fire using various tactics.
Crews doused the blaze from the roof and interior of the shop, according to the fire department. They declared the fire under control after about 70 minutes “of intense work by the 26 firefighters on scene,” the department said.
Several hours later, at 1:48 a.m. Thursday, crews were dispatched to 5620 N.E. Gher Road.
Some crew members had just been released from the auto shop fire. They arrived at Jay’s Stop and Go, a convenience store in a small strip mall, for their second commercial fire of the night.
Engine 6 was the first to arrive. Its crew quickly attacked the fire and was able to stop it from severely damaging the inside of the store, according to the fire department. Two engines were able to handle the response.
No one was injured in either fire.
