Cause of warehouse fire under investigation

Island Equipment Company is picking up the pieces after its warehouse in Santa Rita caught fire. The flames kept firefighters busy through the night and into early Tuesday morning. No one was hurt and the cause is under investigation.  

For nearly 12 hours, firefighters with the Guam Fire Department and Naval Base Guam Federal Fire worked to put out the flames at Island Equipment's warehouse in Santa Rita.

The call coming in around after 3pm Monday.

An employee noticed the smoke coming from one of the warehouse bays.

The company then initiating its emergency response plan and evacuation.

GFD spokesperson Lt. Nick Garrido says the thick smoke forced them to ask residents nearby to shelter in place.

The area however is industrial so no residents were directly impacted.

Firefighters worked to put it out until about 1am Tuesday before being called back at daylight.

“Because it’s such a large warehouse, though the fire is contained they are basically just saturating it with water which is just finding the little hotspots in there. The majority of the fire is contained and extinguished but as they start to remove debris they are going to come across other areas we call hot spots," he explained.

The company’s website states it serves customers in energy, healthcare, commercial and industrial markets with a unique portfolio of products and services including industrial and medical gases, safety equipment, fire extinguisher services and welding supplies.

Garrido says no hazardous materials were inside and fortunately no injuries were reported.

The cause however is under investigation.

“They were there throughout the night. They are going to conduct their assessment most likely tomorrow. They already started their preliminary but they will be able to go back in once all the hot spots have been contained," he said.

The company tells KUAM this portion of the warehouse is accessed solely for the removal or storage of materials and not a regularly manned area.

In a statement, general manager Selina Ashland says, “At this time, we do not expect this incident to affect our operations or service to customers. Although we will have adjusted hours of operations and are diligently working to resume normal hours very soon and look forward to continuing to meet our customers' needs.”

The company also expressing gratitude to their employees for their quick action and to all first responders on scene and to the port authority for the equipment support.