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Columbus firefighters have responded to west side junkyard multiple times in last few years

The fire Monday morning is not the first time this has happened at this site.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An explosion and fire at a west Columbus junkyard sent a plume of smoke into the sky visible for miles and shut down a portion of McKinley Ave.

This is not the first time this has happened at this site.

“There was one explosion where you could see debris flying across the street,” said Karl Nading who was on the job at Edison Automotive when he heard multiple blasts.

“Here we go again,” he said.

Nading works at a separate auto repair shop close to where the fire broke out.

“This isn't the first time they've had a fire,” he said.

Last February, 10TV was on the scene of another fire at this McKinley Avenue junkyard. No one was injured then.

Fast forward a little less than a year, a similar scene of smoke pluming into the sky, and a fire, at the same spot Monday morning.

Columbus Division of Fire Battalion Chief Steve Martin says it appears this time one of the workers was cutting a catalytic converter out of the bottom of a vehicle next to an open container of gasoline.

"The fumes from the gasoline met the spark from the process and created a fire and follow up explosions from the storage of diesel, gasoline, and propane in the building,” Martin said.

Also this time, no one was hurt.

According to Columbus Division of Fire reports, firefighters have been called to the junkyard at 1559 McKinley Ave. five times in the last three years.

When asked what happens next to make sure this pattern doesn't continue, Martin said they'll bring this to the attention of the fire marshal as well as the city's building and zoning departments.

“We'll have a team out here working with zoning to make sure they're either in compliance or whatever the consequences may come of that,” he said.

Workers of nearby businesses like Karl Nading hope something is done to stop this from happening again.

“It got very intense his time,” Nading said. “This is about the worst one they've had so far."

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