Smoke plume from huge warehouse fire in Camp Washington seen for miles; smell traveled too

CINCINNATI — A fire at a vacant warehouse building caused a huge smoke plume that could be seen for miles.

Cincinnati Fire Chief Michael A. Washington said Saturday around 9 a.m. crews responded to the fire at a large vacant warehouse at the corner of Colerain Avenue and Arlington Street.

The warehouse that caught fire was slated to be demolished, Assistant Fire Chief Matt Flagler said. Tom Millikin with the Cincinnati Port Authority said they do not own the property, but they are working with the city to use funding from the Ohio Department of Development to demolish and remediate it.

Marc Price/WCPO

That building is located near the former Crosley building on Arlington Street, but Washington said the flames never affected the Crosley building. Despite that, the large fire did spread to another unknown building nearby. The fire was also relatively close to the American Sign Museum on Monmouth Avenue, prompting the closure of the museum, despite it being unaffected.

Due to a neighborhood emergency and for the safety of both our visitors and public servants, the Museum will be closed today, Saturday, March 4th. The Museum is unaffected and will resume normal hours of operation tomorrow, Sunday, March 5th from 12-4pm.

— American Sign Museum (@SignMuseum) March 4, 2023

Smoke plumes from the fire could be seen from miles away, with some people as far as Buttermilk Pike in Northern Kentucky. The smell from the fire was also reported as far away as Red Bank Road in Madisonville.

Washington said they fought the fire defensively and cautiously fighting the fire due to structural collapse in the building.

"As a fire chief, these are the most dangerous fires, different than structural, residential fires," Washington said. "This is a situation of the unknown."

Flagler said they have yet to 100% determine if anyone was inside the building, but crews did a quick search when they got on scene and didn't see anyone.

Crews conducted aerial recon Saturday afternoon to get a better look at the fire's progression as well as any hazards. Washington said at this time they're unsure what caused the structural fire.

Washington said he quickly advanced the fire all the way to a 6-alarm fire once on scene, which entails dozens of crews responding to the incident. Procedure usually indicates that a 5-alarm is the highest level fire, but they are able to keep adding alarms if more resources and personnel are needed, Flagler said.

The last 6-alarm fire Washington said he could remember was the Queen City Barrel fire in Lower Price Hill, which happened in 2004. That fire caused $5 million in damage to a 400,000-square-foot container-recycling facility.

Around noon there were 120 CFD firefighters and 25 fire companies attending to the fire as well as aid from Hamilton County, Norwood, Green Township and Colerain Township fire departments. Flagler said that number had increased throughout the day to 150 firefighters.

Flagler expects there to be a presence at the fire site for the next few days.

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