Fire engulfs grocery store on Dearborn's east side
Firefighters at the scene of a fire that destroyed the contents of Socotra Market on West Warren Avenue. (Ian Kushnir/Double Deuce Fire Images)
DEARBORN, Mich. (FOX 2) - A small grocery store in east Dearborn, near Detroit, was fully engulfed by flames around midnight on Thursday. It took 17 firefighters to fight the fire.
Socotra Market is located at 10425 West Warren Ave. and offers a variety of Middle Eastern and international foods. Everything inside the market was destroyed by the blaze, according to the Dearborn Fire Department.
However, firefighters responded to the scene within four minutes and were able to extinguish the majority of the fire about 10 minutes later, keeping it contained to one business, Dearborn Fire Chief Joseph Murray told FOX 2.
"Our guys did a very good job of stopping this before it spread to other buildings," Murray said. "A fire doubles in size every 30 seconds, that's why response time is so important."
Flames and smoke were emanating from the entire building when first responders arrived.
Socotra Market on West Warren Avenue suffered a large fire. (Ian Kushnir/Double Deuce Fire Images)
"We made entry through a large window, and also had to force open a couple of doors and cut some ventilation holes," Murray said.
No one was injured. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The building sustained structural damage, but the fire department won't know if the building should be knocked down until they assess the extent of the damage, Murray said.
A Dearborn fire marshal was on the scene investigating around noon on Thursday.