Firefighters, first responders and community members banded together Monday to extinguish a nasty fire off South Main Avenue in Brookings.

Crews were dispatched to the fire at Wes’s Auto Salvage around 1:45 p.m. Monday and discovered a large fire that had spread from a burn barrel to a large pile of tires and then several vehicles nearby, according to a news release from the Brookings County Sheriff’s Office.

Crew’s from the sheriff’s office, Brookings Fire Department, Brookings Ambulance, Aurora Fire Department and Volga Fire Department all responded and, upon seeing the extent of the fire, began calling for more fire suppressant foam and water.

“Hats off to all the firefighters, that was a tough one,” Assistant Sheriff Scott Sebring said. “Those tires were burning hot, the smoke was really black and fatigue sets in really quickly. We’d really be in trouble without our fire department and the Aurora and Volga folks, too.”

Dry conditions meant the firefighters needed to keep water and foam on all the surrounding area to keep the fire from spreading. And, complicating matters, the road construction around town slowed trucks hauling more foam and water to the site of the fire.

Community members also pitched in to help battle the blaze. Once the fire was under control, an excavator from Prussman Contracting moved in to break up the melted tires to keep them from reigniting. And a truck from Novita Nutrition hauled additional fire suppressant foam to the site to resupply the crews. 

“That’s always nice to see, and if it weren’t for the foam and the excavator we’d have been in trouble,” Sebring said. “It’s always good to see first responders and the public working together like that.”

Sebring also urged residents to take great care with controlled burns in the area because of the lack of rain this spring.

“It’s dry. It’s dry everywhere,” he said. “Don’t start a fire and then not watch it. Don’t let them burn after dark. Make sure you’re not near a building or anything that could catch. Make sure you’re not near a vehicle.”

City residents are also required to call 605-692-2113 before and after then start a controlled burn.

The total extent of the damage from the fire at the salvage yard remains unknown and the incident remains under investigation by the sheriff’s office, according to the release. 

Linehan is the Register’s managing editor and welcomes comments at jlinehan@brookingsregister.com.