Local Briefs

Early risers for miles around Clovis could see a large dark plume of billowing black smoke from a Monday morning tire fire, according to Clovis Fire Department officials.

Acting Battalion Chief Tim Peterson said 12 firefighers with three engines, a basket truck, and an ambulance responded at 5:42 a.m. to a tire lot at 1220 West Grand.

“We got on the scene and there were tires on fire; it extended into the structure and did pretty extensive damage to the interior,” Peterson said. “We did have a firefighter injured and taken to the hospital, but he was treated and released.”

Peterson said the firefighter’s injury was minor and due to a fall, not due to burns or smoke inhalation.

Firefighters brought the situation under control within half an hour and cleared from the scene by 8:21 a.m., Peterson said.

While the incident sent large amounts of black smoke into the skies of Clovis, Peterson said there wasn’t much danger to other buildings, none of which were close enough to be caught on fire.

A 7-year-old Clovis boy is resting at home with a broken nose after being hit by a car Sunday afternoon, according to relatives.

David Bautista was riding a skateboard out of a driveway near his home on the 200 block of Mariposa when he went into the street and was hit by a car, police reports show. The car’s driver told police that by the time she saw the boy, it was too late to avoid hitting him. Witnesses told police Bautista landed face-first on the pavement.

Initial reports to the Clovis Fire Department indicated Bautista was unconscious and bleeding heavily, but acting Battalion Chief Tim Peterson said he was in better condition by the time firefighters arrived.

“(Firefighters) found him on the ground and the only thing they found is he hit his nose really hard and that’s where the blood came from,” Peterson said. “I think he just got a good sore nose.”