Three-Alarm Blaze Hits Calif. Paper Recycling Plant

May 3, 2013
San Jose firefighters were challenged by fire in a paper and cardboard recycling plant that spread through the whole facility Thursday night.

May 03--SAN JOSE -- Stubbornly smoldering piles of paper and cardboard at a recycling plant threatened to keep firefighters camped overnight at the site next to Municipal Stadium, after a three-alarm blaze spread throughout the facility shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday.

No injuries were reported, and the plant at South 10th Street and East Alma Avenue had been closed for about an hour when crews were called to the scene, said San Jose fire Capt. Rob Brown. Arriving firefighters found a smoky blaze that had spread throughout the facility.

"There was loose paper, paper and cardboard bundled into bails, recycling materials in all phases of storage," Brown said. "Once that stuff catches, these types of fires can be really difficult to get fully extinguished."

He added that the fire moved quickly throughout the facility because of hot temperatures, wind and dry paper.

Around 9 p.m., as ladder trucks continued to douse the facility from high above, Brown said they planned to have a couple of companies at the scene through the night.

Contact Eric Kurhi at 408-920-5852. Follow him at Twitter.com/erickurhi.

Copyright 2013 - San Jose Mercury News

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