Large fire in Compton is contained; no injuries reported

A billowing fire erupted Wednesday afternoon at a commercial property in Compton, prompting authorities to close several of the city’s busiest intersections.

About 4:45 p.m., the Compton Fire Department fielded a report of a fire burning in either a tree or some brush near the intersection of Alameda Street and Rosecrans Avenue, said Adriana Fernandez Clark, a public information officer for the city.

The flames spread to a nearby pallet yard; footage from news helicopters showed the yard and several warehouses engulfed in flames, spreading toward and threatening nearby homes.

The threat to homes led the Compton Fire Department to raise the incident to a five-alarm fire, drawing crews and trucks from a number of other agencies, Fernandez Clark said.

The fire had been contained as of 8 p.m., she said.

The pallet yard and several unattached garages were scorched, but no homes had been reported burned and no one was injured, Fernandez Clark said.

The Sheriff’s Department asked people to stay away from the area and announced it was closing a number of key junctures in Compton, including the intersections of Alameda and Rosecrans, Rosecrans and Long Beach Boulevard, Rosecrans and Willowbrook Avenue, Willowbrook and Elm Street, Willowbrook and Spruce Street, and Alameda Street and Compton Boulevard.