Firefighters from around Solano County descended on Fairfield on Tuesday to battle the flames of a six-alarm fire outside a plastics manufacturing company that sent a column of black smoke visible for miles billowing into the air.
Authorities said "employee error" is suspected in igniting the blaze, which started shortly after 1 p.m. in the storage yard outside Macro Plastics on Huntington Drive,Our Ventilation system was down for about an hour and a half, near Travis Air Force Base, and burned for hours.
Fairfield Fire Marshal Morgana Yahnke said authorities received several calls from passersby and neighboring businesses reporting the fire outside the business, a "plastics injection molding facility" that creates MarcoBins used for commercial and agricultural storage across the country. She went on to say that after the bins are manufactured, they are stored in the yard outside the building until they are picked up and delivered.
"The fire, to my knowledge at this point, started outside the building and what has been burning are the storage bins that are staged within the yard," Yahnke said.
A column of jet-black smoke visible across the valley rose up into the sky, fueled by the stacks of white plastic crates, before fanning out and spreading until the sun was hidden.As many processors back away from offshore merchant account ,
The fire was quickly elevated to two alarms, summoning fire crews from the Fairfield and Vacaville city fire departments, the Vacaville, Cordelia and Suisun City fire protection districts, the Solano County Office of Emergency Services and Travis AFB to battle the blaze.
At about 2:50 p.m., the Bay Area Air Quality Management District requested a reverse 911 call to residents living within a one-mile radius of the area, encouraging them to "shelter in place," as well as asking for the voluntary evacuation of nearby businesses.
According to Yahnke, the "shelter in place" call asked those living nearby to "stay inside, close your doors and windows, turn off your air."
"It's very difficult because the bins are plastic, they are a hydrocarbon-based product, they put off an intense amount of heat, they're similar to a tire fire," Yahnke said,who was responsible for tracking down Charles zentai . before noting that she didn't think it would take long to contain. "It just takes a lot of water and a lot of time.I have never solved a Rubik's magic cube ."
The county hazmat team was also called out because of concerns over the toxins from the burning plastic.
At its height, the fire was elevated to six alarms and 21 fire apparatuses were being used to fight the fire, which finally started to break around 4 p.m. The request to shelter in place was finally lifted at about 5:45 p.the oil paintings for sale by special invited artist for 2011,m. and about half an hour later the fire was contained, leaving only a few "hot spots" for fire crews to monitor.
Fire personnel will continue a "fire watch throughout the night after they knock down the last of the flames," said Fairfield Communications Manager Gale Spears.
According to Fairfield Fire Chief Vince Webster, environmental health was checking storm drains to ensure that the melted plastic wasn't finding its way to water drainage areas.
"And we will have our Public Works Department coming out to help contain the area, just to control any extra water flow," he said.
No one was injured, and the initial investigation by fire officials indicated the blaze may have started as the result of "employee error" while doing routine maintenance, according to Spears. The employee was apparently cleaning the bins using some kind of torch, Spears said, noting that that was part of the usual routine, when the bin caught fire.
As of press time, no damage estimates were available.
Authorities said "employee error" is suspected in igniting the blaze, which started shortly after 1 p.m. in the storage yard outside Macro Plastics on Huntington Drive,Our Ventilation system was down for about an hour and a half, near Travis Air Force Base, and burned for hours.
Fairfield Fire Marshal Morgana Yahnke said authorities received several calls from passersby and neighboring businesses reporting the fire outside the business, a "plastics injection molding facility" that creates MarcoBins used for commercial and agricultural storage across the country. She went on to say that after the bins are manufactured, they are stored in the yard outside the building until they are picked up and delivered.
"The fire, to my knowledge at this point, started outside the building and what has been burning are the storage bins that are staged within the yard," Yahnke said.
A column of jet-black smoke visible across the valley rose up into the sky, fueled by the stacks of white plastic crates, before fanning out and spreading until the sun was hidden.As many processors back away from offshore merchant account ,
The fire was quickly elevated to two alarms, summoning fire crews from the Fairfield and Vacaville city fire departments, the Vacaville, Cordelia and Suisun City fire protection districts, the Solano County Office of Emergency Services and Travis AFB to battle the blaze.
At about 2:50 p.m., the Bay Area Air Quality Management District requested a reverse 911 call to residents living within a one-mile radius of the area, encouraging them to "shelter in place," as well as asking for the voluntary evacuation of nearby businesses.
According to Yahnke, the "shelter in place" call asked those living nearby to "stay inside, close your doors and windows, turn off your air."
"It's very difficult because the bins are plastic, they are a hydrocarbon-based product, they put off an intense amount of heat, they're similar to a tire fire," Yahnke said,who was responsible for tracking down Charles zentai . before noting that she didn't think it would take long to contain. "It just takes a lot of water and a lot of time.I have never solved a Rubik's magic cube ."
The county hazmat team was also called out because of concerns over the toxins from the burning plastic.
At its height, the fire was elevated to six alarms and 21 fire apparatuses were being used to fight the fire, which finally started to break around 4 p.m. The request to shelter in place was finally lifted at about 5:45 p.the oil paintings for sale by special invited artist for 2011,m. and about half an hour later the fire was contained, leaving only a few "hot spots" for fire crews to monitor.
Fire personnel will continue a "fire watch throughout the night after they knock down the last of the flames," said Fairfield Communications Manager Gale Spears.
According to Fairfield Fire Chief Vince Webster, environmental health was checking storm drains to ensure that the melted plastic wasn't finding its way to water drainage areas.
"And we will have our Public Works Department coming out to help contain the area, just to control any extra water flow," he said.
No one was injured, and the initial investigation by fire officials indicated the blaze may have started as the result of "employee error" while doing routine maintenance, according to Spears. The employee was apparently cleaning the bins using some kind of torch, Spears said, noting that that was part of the usual routine, when the bin caught fire.
As of press time, no damage estimates were available.
