Fire Crews Battling Massive Fire At Stockton Tomato Processing Plant
STOCKTON (CBS SF/AP) — Battling soaring temperatures and towering flames, firefighters fought a 3-alarm blaze Tuesday that erupted among pile of plastic pallets at a Stockton tomato processing plant.
Stockton Fire said on social media that roughly 1.5 acres of pallets were burning Tuesday and drivers are asked to avoid the area. Firefighters were not just battling the flames, they also were staging their firefight amid a heat wave. At noon it was 93 degrees in Stockton with 265 percent humidity.
No one has been injured although one firefighter was taken to a hospital with heat exhaustion, the fire department said. The processing plant is safe. Video from the scene, shows thick black smoke spiraling from the plant.
Wayne Burke, who lives near the Mizkan America tomato packing facility, was using a garden hose to water the side and roof of his house, as well as trees and plants in his yard, The Record of Stockton reported.
Water landing on the street immediately turned into steam upon making contact with the pavement. "Now I know what a pig at a luau feels like," he told the newspaper.
It's not known how the fire started.
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