WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. -- Firefighters responded to a five-alarm fire at a tire warehouse in the Upper Valley on Sunday afternoon.

NewsChannel 5's Jackie Bender reported that the fire ignited in a building along Route 4 that housed Pete's Tire Barn.

"This is certainly one of the bigger fires I've ever seen in this community in my 15 years here," Hartford Fire Chief Steven Locke said.

Fire officials from all over the Upper Valley and beyond joined together to fight the fire that officials said spread very quickly.

Smoke and flames engulfed the warehouse and a residential apartment. Locals said the building is almost a century old.

"It's just devastating to see such an historic landmark go up," said Paul Jarvis, of White River Junction.

"This is certainly one of the bigger fires I've ever seen in this community in my 15 years here." - Hartford Fire Chief Steven Locke

The building was a landmark, but now officials said people will remember the site as the scene of one of the largest fires this town has seen.

Shortly after the fire started, there was so much smoke it could be seen across the river in New Hampshire.

"This went up very fast. Again, with all those tires in there, it very quickly escalated from a small fire to a very large fire," Locke said.

The chief estimated that there was more than 2,000 tires in the warehouse when the fire started.

"We're just attempting to slow this fire, but with that many tires inside of this building, we really have been dealt a bad hand," Locke said.

Members of the community said they're thankful no one was hurt.

The cause of the fire was not immediately determined and remains under investigation by state police.

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