CHEYENNE — A fire broke out at Ruben’s Metals Wednesday morning, with heavy smoke blowing across Nationway and East Eighth Street, into a residential neighborhood.

Isaiah Castaneda, the owner’s son, was in the process of crushing a car when the fire started.

“I took the gas tank out, crushed it a little bit, stacked it up, and it exploded,” Castaneda told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

Cheyenne Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Titus Norris told media there was an initial report of two cars on fire at the local metal recycling business. By the time emergency personnel arrived, one building was involved.

Fire personnel were dispatched at 10:36 a.m. and arrived on scene in minutes, Norris told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in an update. The fire was declared under control by 1:17 p.m.

Norris said 14 fire vehicles were sent out, and 45 fire suppression personnel were on the scene, including a battalion chief. A couple of safety officers and other emergency personnel were on scene, as well, for a total of about 50 people, he said.

Cheyenne Police officers closed off Nationway and East Eighth Street and directed traffic down Hot Springs Avenue, through a residential neighborhood.

Norris said no injuries were reported.

Firefighters used a chainsaw to cut a hole in the garage door of the main building, where brown smoke billowed out of the gap. A fire hose was aimed into the hole and sprayed water inside the building.

Castaneda didn’t appear to have any physical markings or burns, but the far-off look in his eyes said it all. Ruben’s Metals is a family owned business, and within a few minutes, his sisters drove into a dirt lot across from the business and grabbed him in a tearful hug.

Michael Castaneda, the cousin of the owner, said Ruben’s Metals had been around for 30 years. He said he was a teacher in Colorado and came up to help out during the summer.

He’d only been in town for three days when the fire broke out. Isaiah Castaneda is supposed to inherit the business, Michael said, “if it survives.”

“This is awful, traumatic,” Michael said.