Fire crews battle flames at Sherwin-Williams paint store

The Wauwatosa Fire Department battled flames at a local paint store Tuesday morning for more than three hours.

A passerby noticed flames coming from Sherwin-Williams Paint Store, 6634 W. North Ave., around 6:30 a.m. and called 911.

Fire crews arrived on the scene shortly after the call and found flames coming from the retailer's back warehouse area, where paints are stored, said Assistant Fire Chief Jim Case of the Wauwatosa Fire Department.

The fire was extinguished in about one hour, Case said, but crews spent more than two hours after that searching for flames that could have been contained or hidden from view.

"It took quite a while due to the age of the building," Case said.

The state fire marshal's office was called to the scene to assist with the investigation, Case said. An exact cause of the fire is still unknown.

The Department of Natural Resources also was on scene Tuesday morning to evaluate any environmental concerns that could have been caused by the fire. The DNR found no such concerns, Case said.

No one was injured in the fire and damage estimates are at least $350,000, Case said.

The Wauwatosa Fire Department received assistance from numerous area fire departments. About 60 firefighting personnel were on scene.

Case said he expects the final report of the incident might not be released for as much as two months .