UPDATE: City-Owned Central Shreveport Warehouse Burns, Cause Determined

[UPDATED:  12-6-11, 8:00 p.m.]

Chief Fire Safety Officer Scott Wolverton tells KEEL News the cause of the fire has been determined to be electrical in nature.  He says a power strip that had a battery charger plugged into it overheated and caught fire, causing the two-alarm fire Monday.  

Wolverton says the fire investigator estimates $20,000 in property damage to the city-owned warehouse.

[Original Story]

A warehouse located near McWillie and Claiborne Avenues in Shreveport, near LSU Hospital burns. 

[Shreveport Fire Department Official Statement]

The Shreveport Fire Department was dispatched to the intersection of McWillie and Claiborne Street this evening at 5:06 p.m. for a reported fire.  Crews from Fire Station Number Eight at the Fair Grounds arrived on scene within four minutes to find a 15,000 square foot warehouse with heavy black smoke and flames coming from the roof. 

The first responding crews arriving on scene attempted to gain entry to the building with difficulty as it had been secured for the day.  At 5:13 p.m. the Incident Commander made the decision to dispatch a second alarm response based on the size of the warehouse, the amount of flame and smoke visible, and the inability to determine the warehouse’s contents and what was burning. 

At the height of the incident there were 40 firefighters assigned to 15 units on scene to battle the blaze.  The fire was brought under control at 5:34 pm. 

The building is owned by the City of Shreveport and is the Traffic Control Warehouse for the Public Works Department.  It is used to store traffic barricades, cones, and other equipment used by Traffic Control.    

The warehouse normally has three workers there and all employees had left around 3:00 pm.  There was no one working at the time of the fire and there no injuries.  The warehouse suffered moderate fire damage to it structure and contents.  The cause of the fire is still under investigation. 

Stay with your News and Weather Station, News Radio 710 KEEL for developments