Fire Sends Up 200-Foot Flames at Recycling Firm
Fire engulfed an acre-wide mound of paper and cardboard at a Sun Valley recycling firm Monday afternoon, sending up 200-foot-high flames and thick, black plumes of smoke visible throughout much of the San Fernando Valley, fire officials said.
No injuries were reported and the blaze was contained in the yard of Sun Valley Paper Stock Inc., Los Angeles Fire Department officials said.
Gusty winds blew burning embers that spread the flames throughout the 6-foot high paper pile and sent blasts of hot air into nearby debris, igniting it. Fire raged over the pile of paper and inside two corrugated metal warehouses containing rags, aluminum cans and plastic bottles, Assistant Fire Chief Richard Olsen said.
Robert Fagan, one of the firm’s owners, said that his 20 employees safely evacuated the yard, where up to 500 tons of recyclable materials were stored.
The cause of the fire was under investigation and no estimate of monetary damages was available.
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