Firefighters Put Out Blaze in Telephone Pole Yard

Creosote-soaked telephone poles burning in an industrial section of Long Beach sent flames leaping 300 to 400 feet into the air Tuesday, threatening an oil facility and building materials firm before firefighters brought the blaze under control, fire officials said.

Long Beach Fire Department spokesman Bob Caldon said three companies and a fireboat responded to a 6:16 p.m. alarm at the Baxter Pole Yard, in the 1800 block of West 8th Street near a boat channel.

Firefighters hosed down pipes of the Tidewater Oil Products, Caldon said. On the other side of the blaze, he said, a line of firefighters alongside the building materials firm poured water on the flames, controlling the fire within about 35 minutes.

“It was one big bonfire,” he said.

Authorities believe the blaze began with a small electrical fire that spread to one of the telephone poles. A damage estimate was not immediately available.