casey.grove@adn.com
(12/09/10 18:32:04)
Anchorage firefighters are mopping up tonight after gaining control over a blaze that broke out this afternoon at a business off the Old Seward Highway, a department spokesperson said.
Firefighters are breaking down water hoses and releasing some of the equipment that responded to the blaze at Northern Gravel and Trucking at 69th Avenue and Rosewood Street.
The owner of the business was working with a mixture of hundreds of gallons of asphalt oil and diesel this afternoon when it ignited, firefighters said.
The resulting blaze, which firefighters fought well into the darkness, drew a huge response from the fire department and poured thick smoke into the air that could be seen for miles.
No injuries have yet been reported in the blaze.
Battalion Chief Jim Vignola said the business' owner was mixing the materials in a process designed to warm asphalt so it can be worked with in cold temperatures when it caught fire.
"He was in the process of heating this asphalt oil and somehow, whether it was overheated or there was a leak, it ignited -- whether something else ignited this, there was an ignition of that asphalt oil," Vignola said.
The owner escaped without being injured.
Another fire department spokesperson said 12 fire companies responded to the blaze.
Cherie Sullivan, who works at a nearby office, said workers in her building about 4 p.m. heard an explosion just before seeing the fire. "We saw the flames and, at first, thought it was the sunset," she said.
Anchorage police say most roads in the region are closed. The Old Seward Highway was closed for a time but has reopened.
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