Massive fire at San Joaquin County recycling center causes nearby homes to evacuate
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but officials said no one was hurt and no homes were damaged.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but officials said no one was hurt and no homes were damaged.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but officials said no one was hurt and no homes were damaged.
A massive fire sparked early Thursday morning at a pallet recycling center near an elementary school in the Banta community of San Joaquin County.
It is believed that five acres filled with wooden pallets at the GMA Pallet Recycling Corporation were fueling the blaze, which triggered three alarms for the fire department. That means that extra resources and personnel were required to handle the fire.
Fire officials said at least two-thirds of the yard was actively on fire before they gained control of the flames. There is no water supply in the area, so firefighters had to shuttle water in, which made it difficult to keep it under control.
"A big challenge was water. There's not a municipal water system in this area, so we had to shuttle water back and forth," South San Joaquin County Fire Authority Fire Chief Randall Bradley said. "We've put about 250,000 gallons of water on the fire through our shuttle program."
Bradley said firefighters had extinguished most of the flames by Thursday afternoon. Some hot spots lingered, and fire crews and dozers stayed at the plant throughout the afternoon to put them out. Most fire department personnel appeared to leave the recycling center around 4 p.m.
What caused a lot of challenges is that pallets can easily create large fires, the chief said, explaining that it's dry wood with gaps between the rows. And at the plant were piles stacked 16 feet high separated by aisleways, which made for easy breathing for the flames.
"It's just a very hot, difficult fire. Just the way pallets are designed, air gets between the slots and it feeds the fire and then the fires grow quickly," Bradley said.
According to the San Joaquin County Code of Public Safety, there are water requirements when it comes to pallet storage. Section 315.8 states, "An approved water supply and fire hydrants capable of supplying the required fire flow shall be provided within 150 feet of all portions of the storage, manufacturing, and repair areas in accordance with Section 407.5, California Fire Code."
Bradley said there was water at the facility, but fire crews simply needed more.
"We had 10,000 gallons of water on site. But we quickly went through the 10,000 gallons of water, and then we bring about 6,000 gallons of water with us, but we went through that also, so we got water tenders and then started shuttling water," Bradley said.
Now, just ashes remain where thousands of pallets stood.
Bradley said authorities evacuated six homes, and a total of 19 people, near the fire in the 5000 block of West Grant Line in Banta east of Tracy. Those homes were right next to the pallet recycling center.
Eucadio Martinez lives a couple of houses behind the plant, and he said he woke up to the flames.
"I see a big fire over here like maybe more than 20, like 30 or 40 feet high," Martinez said.
Martinez was worried the embers landing in his yard and near his home would spark.
"It was really scary," Martinez said. "We could have a fire in the house, I think because I see the embers coming a lot. It was really bad in the morning."
A notice was sent to teachers at nearby Banta Elementary School that the school was closed on Thursday due to the fire.
Watch our earlier coverage from 7 a.m. in the video below
It's unknown how the fire started. No injuries have been reported.
Fire crews worked to protect other homes and businesses nearby.
A recycling plant employee who spoke with KCRA 3 said anywhere from 80,000 to 100,000 pallets have burned.
At one point, a dust devil could be seen in the middle of the fire area.
Road closures were in place between Grant Line Road between the 11th Street roundabout and Chabot Court for a large part of the day, according to the Tracy Police Department.
GMA, based in San Bernardino County, has other locations in Mira Loma, Riverside, Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga. The family-owned company has been in operation for 25 years.
Fire officials said they interviewed the plant manager, as well as other individuals, as part of their investigation to see what might have caused the fire and where exactly in the recycling plant the fire started.
This is a developing story. Stay with KCRA 3 for the latest.
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