[May 20, 2013] Fire chief: Eddie's station is destroyed Tweet May 20, 2013 (American News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- 2:04 P.M. UPDATE: Kevin VanMeter, Aberdeen fire chief, said the Eddie's building is destroyed. The fire is still burning within the building's garage, he said. The roof collapsed, making it tough for firefighters to get to the flames within, he said. He said firefighters are going to knock down the east and south walls of the garage to get to the flames. There was so much flammable material in the garage, including fuel in the fuel tank that hit the light, that the fire spread very quickly, VanMeter said. Many of the items in the garage had caught fire before the fire department arrived, he said. Police and fire crews are now working to open Second Street and the overpass to traffic, VanMeter said. 12:52 P.M. UPDATE: Firefighters are still battling the blaze at Eddie's that started this morning. More fire has been reported in the roof area, according to the scanner. 11:41 A.M. UPDATE: Nobody was injured, but an Aberdeen service station and garage destroyed as the result of a fire this morning at Eddie's Sinclair. The fire started when Matthew Tutor, a mechanic at Eddie's, was changing a truck's fuel pump, Tutor said. Tutor said as he was working, the air jack lost pressure and, as the truck's fuel tank hit a shop light as it fell. That sparked the fire, he said. He said the three workers at the station grabbed fire extinguishers and tried to douse the flames, but that it spread too quickly. Tutor said all three workers got out of the business safely. Across the street to the north of Eddie's, Tutor and others stood in increasingly heavy rain and watched Aberdeen firefighters put out the flames. The fire was reported about 10:30. Crews remained on the scene as of 11:30. According to scanner reports, there were still flames within the building at that time. Tutor said there were explosions in the building after the fire started. He said the truck's two fuel tanks, some oil barrels and some tires exploded. The fire did not spread to fuel pumps in front of Eddie's, Tutor said. It appeared the interior of the building sustained significant damage. The exterior of doors were singed with black as heavy smoke rolled out of the shop. The fire's location caused the overpass and a portion of North Second Street to be closed. Stay with aberdeennews.com for updates. 11:16 UPDATE: Scott Waltman reports that it appears everybody got out of the building and is safe. 11:06 UPDATE: Worst damage seems to be in the south side of Eddie's Northside building, said Will Elkins, American News videographer. 10:56 UPDATE: A reader's tweet: @BHeimTime3m on Twitter: "I live at North Main St. The 2nd St. traffic seems to have been redirected here. Very heavy." 10:52 UPDATE: The bulk of the fire has been knocked down, according to scanner reports. But firefighters remain, and power has been shut down to the building. 10:44 UPDATE: Both sides of the overpass have now been barricaded because of the fire at Eddie's Northside gas station on North Second Street. A fire at Eddie's Northside has been reported. ___ (c)2013 the American News (Aberdeen, S.D.) Visit the American News (Aberdeen, S.D.) at www.aberdeennews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]