Fire Erupts At East El Paso Storage Building

A fire broke out around 8 p.m. Saturday night at a storage building in eastern El Paso.

According to the El Paso fire department, 40 firefighters were called to battle the blaze in the storage building for L & M Radiator Co. at 6966 Market St.

The first fire crews on the scene reported heavy smoke and flames coming from the building. The fire department said it took abut 20 minutes to get the fire under control.

Fire investigators determined the fire started as a result of spontaneous combustion from oily rags stored in cardboard boxes in the storage building.

Investigators initially estimated $70,000 in structural damage to the building.

Fire officials would like remind the public to avoid storing oily rags in any enclosed combustible containers and to practice good housekeeping to prevent any type of spontaneous combustion fires.