2 Fountain Valley Businesses Gutted : Fast-Paced Fire Hits Industrial Complex

Fire whipped through a race-car fuel tank plant, gutting part of a Fountain Valley industrial complex and sending black smoke and debris billowing hundreds of feet into the air early Wednesday.

More than 30 firefighters from four communities fought for more than an hour to contain the spectacular blaze, which broke out about 8:30 a.m. at Fuel Safe Inc. when a piece of molten polyurethane foam ignited foam residue on the warehouse floor of the plant, fire officials said.

The clouds of smoke could be seen for miles around the plant, located in the 10900 block of Kalama River, near Euclid Avenue, snarling morning commuter traffic on the nearby San Diego Freeway, authorities said.

The first firemen arriving at the scene were confronted by a wall of flames generating such intense heat that overhead wires began popping and snapping, Fountain Valley fire officials said.

The fast-moving blaze caught several neighboring workers by surprise in the eight-unit industrial complex.

“I was reading the paper, and noticed that the wall started smoking. Seconds later the fire just went through it with a big whoosh,” said Richard Lowe, owner of Bio Orthopedic Laboratory, a maker of artificial limbs. Lowe’s was one of three businesses destroyed or damaged in the blaze. Firemen estimated total damage at about $750,000.

“I had 10 years of business go up in smoke--just like that,” Lowe said. “We tried to put out the fire with extinguishers, and it just blew up in our faces. The flames were too intense; you couldn’t get close to the fire.”

Jim Bowen, 21, who works as a shipper at the Quilting Store, next to the office building, said he first noticed the fire about 8:45 a.m. “I saw some guys . . . pointing down the alley. So I took a look around the corner. Two guys were standing down there using a hand-held fire extinguisher.”

Doors Were in Flames

Bowen said he darted inside to tell the owner. When he went back outside, the rear doors to two of the offices were in flames, and smoke poured from a third.

Firefighters from the cities of Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana and Westminster battled the blaze with air tanks and hoses, training water on the fast-moving flames from both sides of the building.

Fountain Valley Fire Department Capt. Bob McVey said, “Firefighters fought the fires from the alley behind the buildings and from the front side with an aerial ladder hose . . . and several (regular) hose lines.” McVey’s engine company was one of the first to arrive on the scene after the alarm was received at 8:48 a.m.

“Smoke and fire billowed into the morning sky; (it was) visible for at least 20 miles,” McVey said.

Fearing exposure to toxic chemicals stored at Fuel Safe, firefighters did not enter the premises until the flames were brought under control about 9:50 a.m., he said. “Our main concern was to try to keep the other suites from catching fire. . . . It was pretty stubborn.”

Workers at Fuel Safe, a manufacturer of explosion-proof “fuel cells” for racing cars, said Wednesday that they were operating a 20,000-volt “hot-wire” machine used to cut and shape pieces of foam to fit inside the fuel tanks when the fire started.

Foam Cuttings Ignited

Frank Montanez, 28, a Fuel Safe employee, said he and another man were cutting a sheet of foam when a piece melted, dripped on the floor, then ignited foam cuttings on the floor.

Montanez said they went to get help and when they returned seconds later “everything was on fire.”

He said there were six people in the Fuel Safe building when the fire started, and that the company secretary notified the Fire Department immediately.

Employees in the building said they worked only with new fuel tanks and that no fuel was kept in the building.

Only one person was injured by the fire. McVey was treated at the scene for second-degree burns of the face. He said he and his group of firefighters had been working out at nearby Mile Square Park only moments before the fire was reported. Most of the men, he said, fought the flames wearing their jogging suits beneath their fire gear.

Two suites occupied by Fuel Safe were gutted by the blaze, as was Lowe’s medical supply firm’s suite. A fourth suite occupied by an equestrian supply company, sustained smoke and water damage.

Fountain Valley Fire Battalion Chief Larry Hammer estimated total damage at $750,000. The exact cause of the fire remained under investigation, Hammer said.