A south Omaha building was heavily damaged by fire around noon Friday after a semi struck a power pole at 16th and B Street.
Firefighters found smoke and flames coming from the roof as they arrived. A semi crashed into a power pole while making a turn at the intersection. A high voltage line landed on the roof of the two-story brick building, which spaked the fire.
Jim Krance owns the building and has an apartment on the second floor. He tells NewsRadio 1110 KFAB he was eating lunch when he heard the crash outside and then his power went out.
"Almost immediately i could see sparks in the ceiling of my living room," Krance says. "I grabbed my fire extinguisher and started spraying on that. I went up on my roof and began spraying stuff on that too."
Krance says he has poured thousands of dollars into renovating the building and his apartment. The building also housed a photography studio and Krance says another business was preparing to move in.
It took firefighters nearly 50 minutes to get the fire under control.