Arrest Made In Antioch Tire Warehouse Fire, 2 Injured
ANTIOCH (CBS SF) -- A Pittsburg man was arrested and two people were injured during a four-alarm fire at a tire warehouse in Antioch on Tuesday, a Contra Costa County Fire Protection District spokesman said.
The fire was reported around 4 p.m. at Blue Star Tires at 2665 Pittsburg-Antioch Highway, fire Capt. Robert Marshall said.
The blaze was contained by 6:15 p.m. and the last crews left the scene at around 9:45 p.m., Marshall said.
Marshall said two employees of the tire shop were injured by the fire. They were taken to a hospital where they were treated and released tonight.
Another employee, Rajnesh Reddy, 32, was arrested by fire responders and Pittsburg police on suspicion of unlawfully causing a fire, Marshall said.
Marshall said employees of the tire company had been using a mixture of tar and gasoline to make used tires look nicer, which is not in conformance with fire code.
Reddy is suspected of lighting an illegal firework in the shop which ignited the gasoline mixture, Marshall said.
Marshall said at least four of the six tenant spaces in the subdivided warehouse were uninhabitable after the blaze.
The other spaces were occupied when the fire broke out and everyone self-evacuated before firefighters arrived, he said.
Marshall said the fire itself required a three-alarm response but it rose to four alarms to prevent injuries because fire crews wore out faster in the warm weather.
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