Firefighters battle large fire in Downtown El Paso

Firefighters battled a large fire in Downtown El Paso for hours Monday night.

The fire was reported shortly after 8 p.m. at 602 S. El Paso St.

“La Mexicanita,” a clothing store, is flanked by a perfume store and another retailer, according to Google maps.

ABC-7’s Evan Folan reported a firefighter used an ax to break into a store next to La Mexicanita to make sure the fire had not spread further.

Initially, the El Paso Fire Department’s Twitter account described the fire as a “Condition 2” incident, meaning smoke was visible.

Ten minutes later, the fire was upgraded to Condition 4, which means flames were clearly visible and fire units from adjacent sectors may come in to assist.

A firefighter described fire coming through the roof on emergency radio transmissions, and he instructed others to not go into the building.

A Tweet from EPFD said “Crews exited the building at 600 block of Third Ave. at 8:26 pm.

“As they were fighting the fire and looking for people, the fire pierced the roof which is a very dangerous situation for firefighters,” said Carlos Briano, spokesman for the El Paso Fire Department.

The fire is in the area known as “The Golden Horseshoe,” downtown’s shopping district.

The fire department says the store is a total loss. The damage estimate is at $250,000. The cause of the fire remains unknown.

The fire department says no injuries were reported.