Improper disposal of smoking materials cause of Flying J fire, fire marshal says (Video)

April 17--Improper disposal of smoking materials near an area where employees smoked was the cause of a Wednesday fire that extensively damaged the Flying J Travel Plaza, Salina Fire Marshal Roger Williams said.

Cigarettes were being disposed of in a 5-gallon plastic bucket in close proximity to a storage shed that contained a large quantity of highly flammable fuel additives, Williams said Thursday.

He said laundry soap, which was not flammable, was in the bottom of the bucket, but the bucket also contained a large number of old cigarette butts and other debris, which caught fire. The fire melted the plastic bucket and quickly spread to the plywood shed, Williams said. The shed was located next to the building, which contained a convenience store and the Huddle House restaurant.

Williams said employees smoked at a picnic table that was 10 feet away from the building, as required by city ordinance, but they disposed of smoking materials in the bucket, which was located much closer to the building.

Williams encouraged employees at other businesses to think about how they dispose of smoking materials. He said a metal container, or a container designed specifically for the purpose, is recommended, and the container should be located away from structures.

Butts should be submerged in water and disposed of regularly, he said.

"I hate to see that kind of loss over something so minor and preventable," Williams said. "It was not an intentional situation. It was just a bad, sad mistake."

Store closed temporarily

Anne LeZotte, communications manager for Pilot Flying J, issued a statement Wednesday night saying the company is thankful no one was injured in the fire on the property at 2250 N. Ohio, near Interstate Highway 70, exit 253.

"The store temporarily is closed, and all fuel pumps have been turned off for safety reasons," the statement read. "Crews are en route to work on cleanup and repair."

According to the statement, the company will notify the public of the store's scheduled reopening once that has been determined. In the meantime, customers were encouraged to visit the company's second Salina location -- the Pilot Travel Center at exit 252 on I-70.

Fire affected by wind, wait

Williams said the wind happened to be out of the southeast Wednesday, which blew the flames toward the building's eaves. The fire burned into the attic and began to spread above the ceiling in an area difficult to reach with water, Williams said.

He said employees attempted to fight the fire on their own for seven to 10 minutes after one employee discovered the blaze when he went outside to smoke. That employee radioed in to coworkers, and before the fire department was called, five fire extinguishers, a pressure washer and a garden hose hooked to the mop sink were all used by employees until "somewhere in there they called," Williams said.

Williams said fire nearly doubles in size every minute it burns, so the sooner the fire department is called, the better.

"As soon as you see fire, call. Don't wait," he said.

Water pressure an issue

Williams said the fire department handled the blaze as a four-alarm fire, meaning all off-duty city firefighters were called in, with some working the fire stations in town and the rest working at the fire.

A tanker shuttle run by Rural Fire District Nos. 2, 5 and 7 supplied extra water and "helped keep us going," he said. Fire hoses were hooked to three fire hydrants at the scene that were supplied by private water lines.

"The water supply wasn't necessarily an issue, it was the pressure, because the water lines were not very large," he said. "We didn't have the pressure we needed for aerial operations."

Williams said a fire truck stayed at the Flying J all night, but he hadn't heard of anything rekindling. The blaze, which was reported at about 12:30 p.m., was extinguished in about four hours by crews on three ladder trucks directing firehoses at the burning roof.

Two areas of the roof were significantly damaged, with a hole opened up on the Flying J side of the building and the peak of the Huddle House roof burned away, he said. Several large air handling units on the roof never fell in, although one of them was tilted, he said.

Site to be inspected

On Thursday, inspectors with the Kansas Department of Agriculture were expected to inspect food products to determine if anything could be salvaged. Williams said some areas in the convenience store didn't have water or smoke damage, and a rack holding truck driver log books remained dry.

"There's some stuff that's going to be salvageable, but to what degree I don't know," Williams said. "That's where the Department of Ag comes into play."

He said that today, insurance company adjusters, investigators and a structural engineer are scheduled to arrive for a site assessment.

"This was a very expensive lesson, unfortunately," Williams said.

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