Firefighters battle blaze at U-Haul facility on Milwaukee's south side

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Milwaukee Fire Department (MFD) responded to the scene of a large fire at a U-Haul facility in Milwaukee's Harbor View area Wednesday night, on Barclay Street near Lapham. 

The fire was first reported around 6:37 p.m., according to MFD, with a total of 37 units dispatched to the scene over the course of the event.

Out-of-city companies were also transferred to MFD stations for emergency services coverage while first responders were at the U-Haul fire scene.

MFD crews battled the fire from the inside the storage facility before flames started shooting through the roof and they had to move outside, according to Assistant Chief of Operations Schuyler Belott. 

Belott told CBS 58 that crews didn't find anyone inside the building but can't confirm at this time that nobody was in there. 

Belott said crews could be out there for hours. 

"It's challenging enough in a regular structure fire, with this, we have a storage facility. Which tends to take what used to be a wide-open space and cut it into smaller units for people to rent out," said Belott. "So, it kind of compartmentalizes a lot of that stuff, so once the amount of fire we go now was blowing through the roof." 

MFD says cold temperatures and wind made fighting the fire even more challenging, and many void spaces within the building made it difficult to locate hidden fires. 

The Milwaukee Fire Department remains on scene as of Thursday morning extinguishing spot fires. 

An investigation is underway.