Theresa Clift
The Sacramento Bee
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — More than 200 firefighters are battling a five-alarm fire that has spread to multiple buildings in a south Sacramento industrial area.
The blaze is located in the 3400 block of La Grande Boulevard, near 47th Avenue and Franklin Boulevard, in an industrial park south of the old Campbell’s Soup plant, according to the Sacramento Fire Department. The fire has engulfed a pallet yard and adjacent at least three adjacent businesses.
That’s about six miles south of downtown, where a demonstration against police brutality was taking place earlier Monday evening. However, smoke was visible in many parts of the city and flames, which rose as high as 50 feet, were observed seen from at least a mile away.
There is “heavy fire” in several buildings including a body shop, a mattress warehouse, storage facility, and several other businesses, Fire Chief Gary Loesch told reporters at the scene around 11 p.m. Monday. No one was in the buildings.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries and were taken to a hospital as a precaution, Loesch said.
Loesch does not know how the fire started, he said.
There is a large storage propane tank that is being impacted by fire, which creates a concern for a possible explosion, fire spokesman Capt. Keith Wade said.
The big issue is water, Loesch said.
Crews are using the small amount of water it has to keep the propane tanks cool, Loesch said.
“We are having challenges with the water supply in this unincorporated swath of the county,” Wade said in a text message. “We need to lay supply line in extended length to get back to a fire hydrant that is on the city water grid that would provide adequate pressure to all of the hose lines that we have in place.”
The embers are also causing spot fires to pop up, Loesch said.
There are a handful of light industrial buildings to the east of the lot that are threatened by the fire, as well as an open field west of the pallet yard.
———
©2020 The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.)
https://twitter.com/SacFirePIO/status/1267688852350660608 https://twitter.com/SacFirePIO/status/1267678738700840962