A Friday night fire destroyed the Land Air Express building at 2425 W. 20th St. in Joplin, Battalion Chief Tim Woodward of the Joplin Fire Department said.
A Land Air Express employee who was investigating an alarm coming from the building found a lift truck on fire and called 911 at about 5:45 p.m. Friday. A Joplin police officer on the scene also called in the fire.
Fire crews from Joplin, Duenweg, Redings Mill and Carl Junction arrived minutes later to find heavy smoke and fire coming from the building. They extinguished the flames and cleared the scene by 9 p.m., though the building was described as a loss, Woodward said.
One Joplin firefighter suffered a broken wrist and was treated at Freeman Hospital West, Woodward said.
The fire was caused by a propane leak in the lift truck, he said.
