1 firefighter injured in 5-alarm pallet storage yard fire

By Sarah Burge
The Press Enterprise

FONTANA, Calif. — Firefighters were at the scene of a raging five-alarm blaze at a pallet yard in Fontana on Saturday night, May 19, that had spread to a neighboring tire storage area, authorities said.

The fire was reported about 6 p.m. in the 14000 block of Slover Avenue near Cherry Avenue south of Interstate 10, said Otto Schramm, a spokesman for the San Bernardino County Fire Department.

Schramm said hundreds of stacks of pallets two or three stories high were ablaze and the fire, covering a 4-acre area, had spread to a storage yard with semi-truck tires. Flames were leaping an estimated 80 feet high, he said.

Firefighters from as far away as Victorville were called in to battle the blaze, he said. As of about 9:30 p.m. firefighters had established a perimeter around the fire, Schramm said. There was no immediate estimate of when the fire might be under control.

At least three buildings on the pallet yard were ablaze and there had been several small explosions, which Schramm said were believed to have come from propane tanks on forklifts. Diesel fuel from a semi-truck on the lot might also have ignited, he said.

One firefighter was taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center for treatment of heat-related illness, he said.

There were some evacuations of homes on the east side of Banana Avenue south of Slover, he said.

The cause of the fire was unknown.

Copyright 2012 The Press Enterprise, Inc.

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