Fire Sparks At Police Gun Range In Maple Grove
MAPLE GROVE, Minn. (WCCO) -- Cold weather and toxic fumes hampered firefighters as they tried to put out a fire at an area gun range. The fire broke out shortly before three this afternoon at the Maple Grove Law Enforcement Training Facility.
More than a dozen departments were called to battle the fire that started while officers were in the middle of gun training. By the time firefighters got to the gun range, smoke was pouring out of the building.
Maple Grove Police officers and Hennepin County Sheriff's deputies do their weapon's training at the facility. Their bullets are caught by a very thick, shredded rubber backstop.
Maple Grove officers were firing their weapons Saturday afternoon when one of them saw flames.
"The police officer reported that there was flame initially and he put it out with an extinguisher," said Maple Grove Fire Chief Scott Anderson. "And then it was more of a smoldering fire and then there was so much smoke that you couldn't see and you had to go in with a thermal imaging camera."
Anderson said the sprinkler system kept the fire from growing but it did not put it out. The burning rubber forced all firefighters that entered the building to protect themselves against toxic fumes.
"Everybody here was wearing breathing apparatus. We had medical facilities here, they were checking for carbon monoxide levels in the firefighter," Anderson said.
Not only were fumes a threat but the cold made it hard to fight the fire. Warm air was pumped into a tent to give firefighters a break from the frigid temperatures.
Those inside had a hard time finding the source of the fire.
"The sprinkler system kept it contained. The building was never in any threat of burning down but we couldn't get to the seat of the fire very fast," said Anderson.
Crews thought the fire was in the ventilation system. They cut a hole in the roof and found nothing. It wasn't until firefighters went into the range itself that they found the fire.
"Went past all the targets and at the back of the range where this rubber is, that's where we found the fire," Anderson said.
It is too early in the investigation to say for sure how the fire started. Anderson believes it could have been a bullet that set the destruction of the inside of the shooting range into motion.
"A bullet striking metal, making a spark, the shredded rubber is rather dry; that's one of the things we'll look at," said Anderson.
There was no damage to the outside of the building but the equipment inside that was destroyed will be expensive to replace.
A spokesperson for the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office said they will have to find an alternative place to train for a few weeks until the range in Maple Grove can be fixed.
