Editor's Note: The city of Newport originally reported the fire was at Able Cold Storage. Fire officials informed KARE 11 the building is now a truck repair facility.
NEWPORT, Minn. - Firefighters say a truck repair facility in the southeast metro is a total loss after a large fire on Monday.
Newport Fire Chief Steve Wiley told KARE 11 that no employees were in the building at the time, but an employee who walked in and discovered the fire was the one who called it in.
"Flames were coming through the roof, structure was venting out most of the areas." Wiley said. "There were some minor explosions that could have been either the tires on the semis or the propane tanks on forklifts."
The building on the border of Newport and St. Paul Park, off of Hastings Avenue, used to be a cold storage facility. Firefighters got the call at about 4:20 p.m. on Monday and when they arrived the building was fully involved. It will be a total loss including the building's contents and Wiley said crews will be putting out hot spots all night.
No injuries have been reported, either to employees or firefighters.
Traffic on southbound Highway 61 was temporarily diverted due to the heavy smoke.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.