Large fire at trucking company in Holland ruled accidental

HOLLAND, N.Y. (WKBW) — Several fire crews worked to fight a large fire in Holland August 20th.

A garage where over a dozen tractor trailers are stored caught fire and spread quickly at Draper Trucking Company on Main Street.

The smoke has cleared, and recovery has begun for the business. Mike Kasprzyk, the Holland Town Supervisor, said that for a business that has lost its building and all of its trucks, how do you even begin to recover.

"They're just reeling with unbelief almost, trying to sort out where do we go from here, what do we do first," Kasprzyk said.
According to witnesses, at least a dozen trucks caught fire and explosions could be heard. The Holland fire chief says the explosions came from the gas tanks of the trucks or their tires. He says fire crews were trying to prevent a larger explosion because a large gas tank was located nearby.

Kasprzyk said it all happened during the busiest season for the construction hauling business.

Main Street (Route 16) was closed is both directions from Capitol Heights to Partridge Road due to the fire.

Thick, black smoke could be seen across Western New York. Eighteen fire departments from around the area responded, including the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

No one was hurt in the fire.

Kasprzyk said Draper Trucking is one of the few businesses in town, and that it has been around since shortly after WWII. He stressed the community would continue to support it.

"We've reached out to them obviously, and made sure that they know anything that we need to do that we're certainly going to be willing to do," he said.

Following an investigation officials say the cause of the fire was a mechanical issue and it was accidental.