Firefighters with the Artesia Fire Department work to extinguish a vehicle fire that occurred around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday near Faith Baptist Church. Artesia Fire Marshal James Abner says the fire originated with a privately-owned Jeep parked inside a garage structure located behind the perimeter of the church’s eastmost parking area. The Jeep was a total loss, and a van and buses belonging to the church that were also parked inside the structure were damaged, as was the structure itself. Abner says the AFD believes the fire to have been electrical in nature. The location of the garage posed a challenge for fire crews, as hoses had to be strung from a hydrant along Grand Avenue and the other vehicles inside worked around in order to reach the Jeep, but once firefighters were in position, the fire was extinguished fairly quickly.
