Anaheim : 3-Alarm Fire Destroys Citrus Packing House
A brief but furious fire believed to have been touched off by faulty machinery destroyed a 10,000-square-foot citrus packinghouse Saturday, causing $180,000 damage to the structure and another $150,000 to its contents, fire officials said.
The three-alarm fire at Anaheim Citrus Products, 421 E. Commercial St., was reported at 4:25 p.m. and was brought under control in about 40 minutes, Fire Capt. Bill Hirst said. However, firefighters remained on the scene into the evening as spot fires occasionally flared up at the structure, he said.
Four adjoining buildings in the complex were undamaged, in part because they were insulated from the blaze by fire walls, Hirst said.
“Usually those packinghouses go up like dried kindling,” Hirst said.
Several employees of the plant, located directly south of the Riverside Freeway and east of Harbor Boulevard, escaped without injury, he said.
A Fire Department spokeswoman said firefighters had problems with low water pressure, but that no firefighters were injured.
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