A fire at an Indianapolis warehouse where floats are stored for the 500 Festival Parade has heavily damaged one of those floats.
Indianapolis Fire Department spokeswoman Rita Reith says Tuesday’s fire on the city’s south side caused an estimated $500,000 in damage and slightly injured one employee.
Reith says a man working on a float noticed the fire and tried to extinguish it. When the fire grew out of control, he closed a nearby fire door and evacuated the building.
Reith says the actions of the employee and firefighters kept flames from spreading beyond one warehouse bay. Parade officials say The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis float is likely a total loss.
A 1997 fire in the same warehouse destroyed 10 of 14 floats built for that year’s parade.