ARKOMA — Thirty firefighters from five fire departments battled a structure fire in a building that contains the Arkoma Tag Agency on Wednesday afternoon.
The fire destroyed the quadplex at 524 Main St. in Arkoma, which contains the tag agency, ASAP Fast Loans and two vacant suites. Arkoma Fire Chief Jesse Little said he does not know the initial cause of the fire, but Arkoma Police Chief Thomas Lenard said he does not suspect foul play.
Lenard said ASAP and tag agency employees were inside the building when the fire began.
"They smelled the smoke from the attic and called the fire department," Lenard said.
Lenard said he helped clear people out of the two businesses and remove the computers from the tag agency. He said the fire "was starting to fall from the ceiling to the floor" by the time the two businesses had been cleared.
Firefighters with Pocola and Arkoma fire departments were on scene battling the blaze at 12:45 p.m. Wednesday. The smoke from the blaze was rising high enough to be seen from the western limits of Fort Smith.
Pocola and Arkoma firefighters were eventually joined by firefighters with the Murry Spur, Spiro and Fort Smith fire departments. Firefighters with the Fort Smith Fire Department arrived on scene at around 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday after Arkoma Fire Department's oxygen supply malfunctioned, according to Little.
"We don’t know if it froze up somehow, but we had to call in Fort Smith to bring in their heavy rescue," Little said of his Fire Department's oxygen supply. "We were able to fill their bottles off of their truck.”
Little said the Fire Department's oxygen supply malfunctioning and the rate at which his firefighters were going through their oxygen tanks made the fire difficult to fight. A Fort Smith fire engine was still on scene at 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday, and Little said Leflore County Emergency Management personnel were en route to address the issue at that time.
Little also said the building, which has four separate attics and a roof with wood and metal layering, presented difficulties. He said his firefighters tried to access the blaze through the roof, but were unsuccessful in putting it out that way.
Overall, Little said battling the blaze was "a nightmare."
"We would put it out, and then it would come right back," he said.
Little said the structure is a complete loss, but did not give a damage cost estimate on Wednesday afternoon. He said he has not spoken to tag agency employees to see if records were lost in the fire, but said an ASAP employee "mentioned something about some paperwork" in his workplace.
"We haven’t checked to see if it’s salvageable yet," Little said.
Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corporation employees were at the scene of the fire between 1-2 p.m. on Wednesday, and Leflore County EMS personnel were on standby at the scene throughout the response. Arkoma police officers blocked off Main Street during the response.
Arkoma and Murry Spur firefighters were still putting out hot spots in the gutted remains at 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday.