Arson Suspected in Massive Wash. Fruit Bin Fire

Jan. 10--WAPATO, Wash. -- A blaze in a massive stack of fruit bins northwest of town last night was deliberately started, firefighters said.

About 11 p.m., firefighters responded to the 2600 block of Lateral B, where they found a fire in the middle of a stack of 14,000 fruit bins. Anywhere from 300 to 400 bins were engulfed, according to a Yakima County Fire District 5 news release.

"I'm sure somebody didn't just accidentally start it," said Fire District 5 Deputy Chief Kevin Frazier. "Just with the conditions we had to work with, the rain last night, someone had to work to get this thing going."

A crew of 16 firefighters spent roughly six hours extinguishing the blaze. A forklift was used to remove bins that were not burning to isolate the fire, he said.

The bins were stacked 10 high and 15 deep, he said.

"It's just frustrating," he said. "You take 14000 bins, that thing was long and there were no fire breaks in there. We were there all night."

Damage is estimated at $16,000.

-- Phil Ferolito

Copyright 2012 - Yakima Herald-Republic, Wash.