Brooks Cleaners damaged in Wednesday fire | News

A basic facility in the community of Boaz has closed its doors due to a fire.

Boaz firefighters were dispatched at 11:06 a.m. Wednesday to a possible structure fire on E Mann Avenue.

According to Boaz Fire Chief Jeff Beck, after arriving on scene at Brooks Cleaners, they quickly learned the fire was started by a conveyor motor.

“There were three or four employees working inside at the time. An employee went to use the conveyor and it was running and then it stopped,” Chief Beck said. “Shortly after, they noticed smoke and fire coming from the top, which was around the engine area.

“They tried to release it several times and it kept getting bigger and bigger. They then decided to evacuate the building and called 911.”

Albertville Fire and Rescue assisted with the fire because Boaz had his ladder truck in the shop for maintenance issues.

“We were concerned about the exposure of the buildings next door in case it got out of control. We contacted Albertville for staff and their ladder truck if needed. Anytime we have a commercial building, we would like to have an air unit on site.

From the road, two large holes can be seen on the right side of the building with burn marks from the fire.

“As you drive by and look at the front, you can't really tell anything happened other than the right side of the building,” Chief Beck continued. “This piece of equipment was located next to the exterior wall. Basically, the inside is much worse than the outside. This damaged a lot of equipment. The structure is actually damaged on the roof. I don't know if it will be a total loss, but I know they won't be in business for a while.

Boaz and Albertville Fire were on scene for nearly three hours and used 1,500 gallons of water during the fire.