Blaze rips through Downtown Phoenix building

PHOENIX - Firefighters battled a big fire that devastated a business in Downtown Phoenix.

The fire, according to a statement released by Phoenix Fire officials, happened in the area of 13th Avenue and Roosevelt. Crews were sent to the scene at around 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 18 for reports of a structure fire. When fire crews arrived, they found flames and smoke coming from the roof of the building.

Eventually, a three-alarm fire was declared, according to officials.

A fire official at the scene described some of the challenges firefighters faced at the scene.

"Because this is bowstrung roof firefighters operated defensive strategy. This roof did collapse. What we did is set up big water operation, set up multiple ladder companies, and hit this fire from an elevated position," said the official.

In their statement, fire officials said the building was used as a liquidation distributor for drug and grocery store products, citing the property owner. However, fire officials at the scene said they got word that there were some lithium-ion batteries in the building.

"We don't know if they are mobility devices, or they were any kind of bigger battery," said the official. "We all know the dangers with these lithium batteries. They have these thermal runaways, and are hard to extinguish. We're just cooling them down, changing the chemical reaction."

By 5:30 a.m., a number of fire crews have left the area, but some stayed behind to put out hotspots.

Where the fire happened