King said no firefighters or civilians were injured in the fire, but “we did have reports of people running from the building, so our investigators and Springfield police are running that down.”
The fire was in part of the same large, vacant complex that burned in August 2024. The site has been mentioned by city and county government officials as a possible location for a new public safety building and jail.
According to the county auditor’s website, Roundtree Home Solutions LLC sold the property in October 2022 to the city of Springfield.
Chief King said Thursday that the site is up for brownfield remediation and reuse. “Investigations are ongoing (before the fire) about the property to determine if it meets the requirements of the EPA to do some of those things.”
At the multi-building complex, King said there was heavy smoke and flames through the roof of a large two-story vacant structure. He said fire crews initiated “defensive fire operations.”
Because of the size of the fire and the high heat and humidity, the fire department rotated crews and got help from Springfield and Moorefield townships, Hustead and Box 27. SPD also called all of their off-duty members back into service to staff the city’s other regular fire/EMS calls.
“No materials are stored here, everything’s been cleaned out. The only thing is wood pallets and building materials,” Chief King said. “We contacted the Clark County Health Department, and they evaluated the smoke, and they released information ... but it’s the normal toxins you’d have from the smoke from a fire.”
A statement from the Clark County Combined Health District focused more on the threat from the ongoing heat wave than any risk tied to the fire.
“At this time, CCCHD does not believe that this smoke will cause any additional adverse effects to the air, as residents should already be limiting their time outside due to the extreme weather conditions,” the health district said.
Staff photographer Joseph Cooke contributed to this report.
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