Sapulpa firefighters are calling the business that caught fire this morning “a total loss.”
Chief Darrin Imbody told Sapulpa Times the fire started early Friday morning at Central US Golf Carts, a golf cart retailer located at 720 W Dewey.
“We got the call at 5:22. Two minutes after that, (dispatch) came back on the radio and said they had several calls about fire coming out of the building.”
Photos of the building show obvious damage, including warped metal, which Imbody says was due to the amount of heat concentrated on the inside.
“That was the biggest issue,” he said. “The building stayed intact with these metal walls, causing the heat to build up.”
Within minutes, four fire trucks were on the scene, hooking up hoses and entering the building. “We were able to bust open all the doors to get access and let the heat out,” Imbody said.
As for the inside, the charred remains of golf carts are all that remain, as the fire completely engulfed the interior of the store. “It probably took us about an hour to get it under control,” Imbody said.
He said he believed the golf carts were all electric. Another firefighter not on the scene told Sapulpa Times that his experience with lithium-ion batteries like those that frequently come on golf carts generally are hard to put out. “It takes copious amounts of water to put that fire out,” he said.
Chief Imbody said they’re not sure yet how the fire started, however, and that the fire marshal is currently investigating the cause.
Nobody was in the business at the time of the fire.
