HAMMOND — A weekend fire at an auto body shop started in the warehouse the body shop was housed in, Hammond Fire Chief Daniel Folks said.

Folks said the call for the fire came in around 5:16 a.m. on Saturday and firefighters arrived at the Alligator Road warehouse to find the blaze overtaking the building. According to Folks, the warehouse was being used to store vehicles and furniture, which added to the fire's size. 

The fire took more than three hours and 2,400 gallons of water per minute to extinguish the blaze. In all, 17 units from multiple departments — including Natalbany, Albany, Independence, Ponchatoula, Livingston, 8th Ward and Tangipahoa — assisted in containing the fire, Folks added.

Hammond Police assisted with crowd control and closing down U.S. 190 for nearly five hours. The Tangipahoa Sheriff's Office also assisted with crowd control.

Folks said his department, the Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office and the City of Hammond Fire Prevention Bureau are investigating the cause of the fire. 

"Who in their mind would burn a shop down, somebody's place of business? That's like somebody's home being burned down," Tiara Pope, who rents one of the shops from the building's owner Shorty Rogers, said. "I've never witnessed a fire like that in real life, that was the first time I've ever witnessed that and it was just devastating, it really was."

Pope says everything's a total loss. 

"It started from the end and it messed up so many peoples' cars that just got painted yesterday. I'm talking about money cars, not cheap cars, " Pope said. "There's a lot of stuff that can't be replaced, like tools, paint guns, stuff like that. There's more emotional damage than anything because it's really a big family out here."

The fire was a day after residents at a neighboring mobile home community reported a fire at the same time at the auto shop. However, this one was contained.

Folks confirmed the Friday morning fire and said investigators are working to see if the two fires are connected.

(Images courtesy of the Hammond Fire Department)