June 02--A large fire tore through Shoei Foods production facilities west of Plumas Lake late Saturday night, destroying five warehouses, roughly 30,000 wooden bins and about 200,000 square feet of the facility.
"It is going to be many, many millions (in damage)," said Don Soetaert, chairman and managing director of Shoei Foods USA.
The fire was reported at 10:28 p.m., but Soetaert said according to his cameras, the fire started at 9:51 p.m., six minutes after the last employee left for the day.
Around midnight, Lisa Martin of Plumas Lake heard several loud booms and watched as a huge glow appeared over Shoei Foods.
She wasn't alone. Many residents in the area were awakened when several propane tanks in the back of the property exploded.
Lydia Rasmussen, who lives in Arboga, said she watched as "it lit up the night sky," as each tank went off.
"These things were going off like bombs," said Linda Fire Chief Richard Webb. "We are very fortunate no one got injured or killed."
The cause of the fire is unknown, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will conduct the investigation.
At least 15 agencies, including fire departments from Linda, Olivehurst, Marysville, Wheatland, Pleasant Grove, Beale Air Force Base, Dobbins/Oregon House, Camptonville, Foothill, Yuba City, CalFire, Sutter County, Placer County, Lincoln, Loomis, Roseville, Rocklin and Penryn fought the blaze.
In all, CalFire said, there were 15 engine companies, 12 water tenders, seven overhead and two truck companies that responded.
Linda Fire Department kept one engine on scene Sunday. Onlookers watched from the levee as smoke rose above the crumbled mess.
"We'll keep it under observation as long as necessary," Webb said. "There are still a lot of things burning."
Areas where the roofs have collapsed are not safe enough to enter, Webb said.
The roughly 80,000 square feet of area unharmed by the fire include the offices, the cold storage area and a shelling plant where, Soetaert said, most of the technology and expensive equipment is located.
Soetaert said the shelling facility is expected to be open today.
Shoei Foods, which has 93 employees, reaches its peak employment of about 165 when walnut harvest begins around September.
The plant, which is used to process area walnuts and coconut from the Philippines, was largely empty of walnuts but did have coconut when the blaze tore through roughly 200,000 square feet of the facility.
Soetaert wants growers to know he will be honoring their contracts come harvest season.
"We will be rebuilding, and we will be paying for the 2014 crop on time," Soetaert said.
"We've got to be able to receive 40 to 50 truckloads a day from the growers starting in September. That is a monumental task."
Even more so since that product needed to go in the 30,000 wooden bins that burned.
Soetaert said he bought more than 10,000 bins last year at a price of $145 each and now that he needs to replace all 30,000, he's looking at $4.3 million right there.
Several canopies, basically tall buildings without walls, which were used to keep the bins out of the elements, were also burned.
Soetaert said he knows it isn't an easy road ahead, but with help from businesses, including competitors already flowing in, Shoei Foods will be ready come harvest season.
This was the second major blaze at a food processing facility on Feather River Boulevard in the past four years.
In June 2010, a fire destroyed most of the Naumes Inc. production facilities at 3740 Feather River Blvd.
Shoei Foods is at 1900 Feather River Blvd. The property is valued at $22.19 million, of which $11.32 million is attributed to structures, according to the Yuba County Assessor's Office.
CONTACT David Bitton at 749-4796. Find him on Facebook at ADdbitton.
Copyright 2014 - Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.
