Firefighters battled a large fire Friday at the closed-down, tornado-wrecked Dollar Tree warehouse in Marietta that had southbound traffic on Interstate 35 shut down temporarily because of billowing black smoke.
Love County Sheriff Andy Cumberledge told KXII-TV in Sherman, Texas, there was an “all call” for all fire departments in Love County and that authorities had been called to assess air quality in the area. The sheriff said there were no hazardous materials in the fire.
Firefighters from Oklahoma and Texas were battling the blaze in 102-degree heat Friday afternoon. Authorities reported no injuries.
“There is a large personnel presence at this time,” the Marietta Police Department posted on Facebook Friday morning. “Large amounts of smoke are reported in the area. All persons are encouraged to avoid the area while responders work to control this event. Travelers are highly encouraged to avoid this area and seek alternate routes.”
Dollar Tree said earlier this year that the 1 million-square-foot warehouse and distribution center, which employed 400-plus people, would stay shut down for the foreseeable future.
“We are working closely with local fire officials to manage a contained fire that broke out at what remains of our distribution center in Marietta. We are grateful to report no individuals were harmed as a result of the fire and we extend our thanks to the first responders who are assisting with this issue,” a company spokesman said Friday.
Oklahoma City TV station KFOR shared a photo on X, formerly Twitter, of a large plume of smoke moving across I-35.
The warehouse was heavily damaged when struck by a tornado on April 27, and has been shut down since, costing Marietta and Love County several hundred jobs.
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Senior Business Writer Richard Mize has covered housing, construction, commercial real estate and related topics for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com since 1999. Contact him at [email protected]. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Real Estate with Richard Mize. You can support Richard’s work, and that of his colleagues, by purchasing a digital subscription to The Oklahoman. Right now, you can get 6 months of subscriber-only access for $1.
