HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – As of May 18, around 2:40 p.m., officials have opened Third Avenue back up.
ORIGINAL
Evansville firefighters are on the scene of a fire in the 400 block of Northwest Third Street.
Firefighters were dispatched to the old Pearl Laundry building just before 2 a.m. Wednesday Morning. When crews arrived, they were met with flames shooting from the building.
According to Division Fire Chief Mike Larson, fighting the blaze hasn’t been easy. Larson says all of the fire equipment put a heavy demand on the water supply, making it difficult to get water to the building at first. That problem has since been solved.
The scene is still very active, and parts of downtown are currently without electricity as a result of the fire.
“CenterPoint Energy has been down here with us as they always do. Great, great work. They’ve got the electricity shut off to a big portion of this downtown area here because they couldn’t initially isolate the building,” says Larson. “If people are having issues with electricity this morning, that’s going to be the reason. I’m sure once they get enough people in here to help out, they’ll starting turning different areas of downtown back on.”
Traffic in the area is also an issue, as a several block radius around the Pearl Building will be shut down for at least the next several hours. Officials say drivers should not expect access to Downtown Evansville if they are traveling from First Avenue.
There have been no reports of any injuries.
The Indiana State Fire Marshal’s office is on scene to help with the investigation.
This is a developing story, Eyewitness News will provide updates as additional information becomes available.
