Explosion leads to car
dealership fire, traffic jam
■ Fhe Eugene Kia
dealership loses offices, a
carport and 22 cars to flames
By Sara Lieberth
Oregon Daily Emerald
Minutes before 4 p.m.Thursday
afternoon an explosion in the repair
shop of the Eugene Kia car dealer
ship set off a large fire that spread
quickly to the offices and adjacent
carport at 1768 W. 6th Ave., as well
as a nearby apartment building.
The Eugene Fire Department re
sponded to the scene within two min
utes, calling out a second alarm upon
arrival. No injuries were reported.
Fire department spokesman Bri
an Terrett said eight fire trucks and
more than 30 crew members were
on hand fighting the fire that
poured black smoke over West Eu
gene and choked rush-hour traffic
where Sixth and Seventh avenues
intersect Chambers Street.
“You couldn’t even see the road;
the smoke was so thick,” Terrett said.
Though the specific cause of the
fire is still unknown, firefighters re
ported that after the flames took
over the Eugene Kia office, they
quickly engulfed the lot’s carport,
causing the roof to collapse. Fire
fighters estimate at least 22 cars
were burned in the carport.
Shirley Mannion, a teller at a
nearby U.S. Bank branch, was star
tled by a loud boom before the pow
er went out in the bank.
“I noticed the smoke right
away,” she said. “And before you
knew it, it was all up in flames.”
Terrett said saving the apart
ment building directly east of the
car lot was the immediate priority
of firefighters when they arrived.
“No one’s going to be sleeping
there tonight,” he said. “But we’re
calling it a save.”
Dominick Voci is a tenant in the
building at 1706 1/2 W. 6th Ave.
and said from where he was stand
ing it appeared his apartment and
its contents had been ruined.
“Everything around it is toast, ” Vod
said, “But they say my truck is OK.”
Official estimates of damages to
Eugene Kia and the apartment
building are expected in a few days.
Firemen spent hours containing the blaze at the Kia dealership on West Sixth Avenue. The cause ot the blaze remains unknown
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