By Irma Widjojo
The Vallejo Times-Herald
MARE ISLAND, Calif. — About 50 firefighters fought a four-alarm fire in an abandoned Mare Island warehouse for two hours Sunday morning before bringing the massive blaze under control.
Vallejo Fire Chief Paige Meyer said the fire, which sent plumes of smoke hundreds of feet in the air, was reported at about 9:45 a.m.
The city-owned warehouse — About Building Number 655 on Railroad Avenue — About had been part of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard and was empty. It was scheduled for demolition within six months to a year, Meyer said.
The building was built in 1942 and was used to store submarine spare parts until 1973, said Ken Zadwick, president and co-founder of the Mare Island Historic Park Foundation.
It was then used for storage and to sell leftover materials to private businesses or individuals until the navy base was closed in 1996, Zadwick added.
Firefighters from Solano, Contra Costa and Napa counties helped the Vallejo Fire Department fight the blaze in the 150,000 square-foot, four-story structure on the northern part of the island until about noon.
Hundreds of people who had come to the scene to watch the massive fire were told by firefighters to stay at least a block away.
“We were worried about embers falling on people,” Meyer said.
The cause is under investigation and no one was reported injured.
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