50 Placentia Residents Evacuated as Fire Burns in Plastics Plant
About 50 Placentia residents were evacuated after a two-alarm fire broke out Friday at a business that manufactures urethane plastic, county fire officials said.
Although the blaze was quickly extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system, residents were evacuated because fire officials feared other chemicals in the building might ignite, said Kathleen Cha, a public information officer for the Orange County Fire Department.
About 5:30 p.m., authorities evacuated two blocks on both sides of Urethane Plastics Inc. at 550 W. Crowther Ave., Cha said. The area south of Crowther is an industrial park, but there is a residential area across the street, she said. Residents returned to their homes about 9 p.m., she said.
The fire is believed to have started in an electric kiln in a lower level of the 65,000-square-foot building, Cha said. Because the sprinkler system worked, the blaze was confined to about 20 feet. About 40 firefighters from Fullerton and Anaheim responded to the alarm.
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