A vehicle gasoline tank ignited at a Redford Township auto repair garage Wednesday morning, starting a fire that destroyed the building and took firefighters more than two hours to put out.

Rich Walsh, of the family-owned Walsh's Service on Seven Mile east of Beech Daly, said he was starting to take the gas tank off of a Chevrolet Suburban in order to install a new fuel pump when the tank somehow caught fire.

"I was standing in the fire. It ignited around me," said Walsh, who was able to move quickly away and grab a fire extinguisher. He was not hurt.

Both Rich and his brother Tom, who had been working in the neighboring bay, used fire extinguishers to fight the blaze, and Rich Walsh said he thought for a moment that the fire was nearly out.

"At the same time it looked like it was out, the fire extinguishers ran out," Rich Walsh said.

"The fire extinguisher ran out and it really took off," Tom Walsh said.

In addition to the Suburban, there was a vehicle in each of the other two service bays, said Redford Fire Chief Scott Demoff, and all three vehicles were totaled. Other vehicles parked in the Walsh's lot sustained minor damage.

Demoff said his department got the call shortly before 10 a.m. More than two hours later, flames were still visible, shooting skyward from the southwest corner of the building as Redford firefighters continued to pour water on it.

The Redford Township Fire Department sent several vehicles and 13 firefighters to the scene, and Livonia Fire Department, through mutual aid, sent a fire truck and two ambulances, which were used to carry extra personnel.

Demoff said that even after the fire was out, a crew stood by in case it flared up again. The way the roof had been redone, he said, created hidden spaces in which flames and hot spots could hide.

"The guys did a great job fighting what we could," Demoff said. But with the structure weakened by fire and the presence of hazardous materials inside, he said, it was too dangerous for firefighters to enter the building.

Police blocked off Seven Mile for two blocks east of Beech Daly, forcing drivers in the area to detour, and several fire trucks pulled in close to the building. The fire scene drew onlookers who gathered in small knots around the perimeter created by the trucks and lengths of fire hose.

Walsh's Service has been at the location since 1961. Rich Walsh said it appeared the building was be a total loss.

Rich Walsh said his garage averages one job a day that requires a gas tank to be removed, and that it's a dangerous task. The tanks have to be drained, he said.

"They don't think of us when they design these cars," he said.

mjachman@hometownlife.com

Firefighters aim water into the roof structure at Walsh's Service on Wednesday.