A mostly vacant industrial building used to manufacture RVs in southwest Elkhart was completely destroyed in a fire visible from miles around Sunday afternoon.
The Elkhart Fire Department responded to the 2800 block of Oakland Ave. just north of Mishawaka Road just after 3 p.m. EST. By the time crews arrived, the building was already engulfed in flames and the roof was caving in, so firefighters took a defensive position to spray water from the outside.
This story by Ryan Jeltema originally appeared in The Elkhart Truth.
The blaze sent a large plume of smoke over the southwest side of Elkhart for several hours. People in South Bend and Goshen reported seeing the smoke, which ABC57 Meteorologist Matt Standridge said was visible on weather radar.
Elkhart Coach Plant Manager Dave Tubicsak told news partners at ABC57 that he saw the smoke as he was driving north from Knox in Starke County south of South Bend.
The fire was under control within a couple hours, but hot spots and smoldering debris continued sending smoke into the air hours later.
Two Elkhart firefighters were transported from the scene to Elkhart General Hospital – one with a minor leg injury and the other overcome by heat exhaustion. Both were treated and released.
Elkhart Fire Chief Chad Carey told ABC57 the blaze was tough to fight because the roof collapsed early into the operation, hiding pockets of burning debris underneath and making it difficult for firefighters to move around in the building.
He said Forest River managers would be meeting Monday to discuss how to move forward now that the building is a total loss.