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Unlimited Opportunities Inc., 1620 West Ashley Road in Boonville, has been gutted by a devastating morning fire, calling crews from Columbia to counter the blaze.
According to the Boonville Police Department, a fire alarm call was placed to Unlimited Opportunities at 7:34 a.m., and crews were dispatched. Lynn Kellner, assistant manager of human resources, said the fire was noticed in a warehouse about 7:30, and the building was evacuated shortly thereafter.
According to Kellner, no one was injured and everyone made it out of the building safely. Kellner believes the fire started in the processing portion of the building, used for recycling needs.
Unlimited Opportunities, who collects cardboard, paper, plastic and clothing for recycling, maintained a warehouse at the center of their Ashley Road complex to store materials. A thrift store, Savvy Seconds, was at the east end of the complex.
Fire crews from Boonville and Columbia battled the fire, but the blaze slowly engulfed the building. By 8:15, the warehouse was fully engulfed in flames, and the western half of the building, where the administrative offices were located, was aflame by 8:45 a.m.
Linda Kinney, administrative assistant at the Columbia Fire Department, sent a ladder truck and battalion chief to aid the Boonville Fire Department. She said the Columbia crew was dispatched at 7:50 a.m.
Ashely Templemire and his friend watched the blaze from the parking lot of the adjacent Mellor Trailers.
"Stuff like this doesn't happen here," said Templemire. He said he saw smoke billowing when he woke up at his house six miles away and came to check out the fire.
"It's crazy," he said.
Smoke from the blaze could be seen from as far away as Highway 87 and Highway 40.
Calls to the Boonville Fire Department have not yet been returned.
Unlimited Opportunities Inc., 1620 West Ashley Road in Boonville, has been gutted by a devastating morning fire, calling crews from Columbia to counter the blaze.
According to the Boonville Police Department, a fire alarm call was placed to Unlimited Opportunities at 7:34 a.m., and crews were dispatched. Lynn Kellner, assistant manager of human resources, said the fire was noticed in a warehouse about 7:30, and the building was evacuated shortly thereafter.
According to Kellner, no one was injured and everyone made it out of the building safely. Kellner believes the fire started in the processing portion of the building, used for recycling needs.
Unlimited Opportunities, who collects cardboard, paper, plastic and clothing for recycling, maintained a warehouse at the center of their Ashley Road complex to store materials. A thrift store, Savvy Seconds, was at the east end of the complex.
Fire crews from Boonville and Columbia battled the fire, but the blaze slowly engulfed the building. By 8:15, the warehouse was fully engulfed in flames, and the western half of the building, where the administrative offices were located, was aflame by 8:45 a.m.
Linda Kinney, administrative assistant at the Columbia Fire Department, sent a ladder truck and battalion chief to aid the Boonville Fire Department. She said the Columbia crew was dispatched at 7:50 a.m.
Ashely Templemire and his friend watched the blaze from the parking lot of the adjacent Mellor Trailers.
"Stuff like this doesn't happen here," said Templemire. He said he saw smoke billowing when he woke up at his house six miles away and came to check out the fire.
"It's crazy," he said.
Smoke from the blaze could be seen from as far away as Highway 87 and Highway 40.
Calls to the Boonville Fire Department have not yet been returned.
