A man claiming to have a gun robbed a south-side drugstore of prescription painkillers, according to a Fort Wayne police report. The man approached the pharmacy counter in Walgreens at 222 E. Pettit Ave.Gray and black smoke dominated the sky on Fort Wayne’s east side Wednesday after a pile of tires caught fire, firefighters said.
The blaze started just after 1 p.m. when a heavy-equipment crane touched some high power lines near Mid-American Steel at 5402 Moeller Road, between Meyer and Adams Center roads.
The contact caused sparks and the eventual fire. Fort Wayne Assistant Fire Chief Amy Biggs said no one, including the worker operating the crane, was injured.
Tires filling a 1,000-square-foot area caught fire, and it took firefighters about an hour to bring the blaze under control, Biggs said.
New Haven-Adams Township and Southwest fire departments provided foam to help combat the blaze.
The company used its heavy machinery to help firefighters spread the tires out so they could be extinguished, she said.
Firefighters were expected to stay at the business Wednesday night to make sure the tires did not reignite.
The tires were about 500 feet from the building, but Biggs said she did not believe the business was evacuated. The blaze was ruled an accident, she said.
