ROCK HILL, S.C. — Cell phone video taken by a Channel 9 photographer Tuesday night shows how intense the smoke and flames were as crews worked to get a Rock Hill fire under control.
Inside the storage facility that caught fire was, among other items, tires that made the fire that much harder to contain.
"When you have things like tires and so forth burning, it makes it a lot more intense just because of the component itself. It makes it a lot hotter. It burns a lot longer and it just makes things more difficult," said Rock Hill Fire Department Battalion Chief Rusty Myers.
Myers said the building also had a metal roof and when it fell in, it was difficult to get to hot spots so a back hoe was brought in to help firefighters get to any remaining flames.
By the end of the night, the building was destroyed.
Channel 9 was with investigators Wednesday morning as they took pictures and began their investigation into what caused it.
"Determining where the fire started in this building is going to be difficult because there isn't anything left," Myers said.
But some clues may be in a police report Channel 9 picked up. A witness said he saw someone walking behind the storage building moments before flames broke out.
The person is described as a white man, about 5-feet, 9-inches tall wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt.
Investigators have not said if they believe it was arson.
The fire comes a week after a McDonald's caught fire less than half a mile. It too, was destroyed.
Investigators said they don't believe the two are connected.
Massive fire destroys Rock Hill business
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