Massive fire tears through warehouse in Redlands
Firefighters battled a massive warehouse fire early Friday morning in Redlands that prompted the temporary closure of part of the 10 Freeway.
The blaze, on West Lugionia Avenue near California Street, was reported just before 5:30 a.m.
There were about 100 people working inside the 600,000 square-foot building at the time but they all got out safely, city spokesman Carl Baker said.
There have been no injuries, Baker said.
Amazon’s big-rig trucks caught fire as well, though the facility was not owned by the online retailer.
“It’s a company that works with Amazon that does distribution,” Baker said.
Amazon representatives said the site is operated by Kuehne+Nagel, which they say is a third-party operator that ships extra large items to customers.
Massive Fire Engulfs Third-Party Amazon Fulfillment Center in California
“We are glad everyone is safe, and thankful for the efforts of the local firefighters and first responders,” said Eileen Hards, an Amazon spokeswoman.
Hards said the company expects “minimal” impact to customers. “Customer orders will be fulfilled from other locations.”
Large clouds of smoke could be seen shooting from the building’s roof and into the sky.
It was not known what caused the fire.
Just before 9:30 a.m. firefighters were still in defensive mode, battling the flames from the outside. The blaze had not spread to other structures, but there was concern of more walls possibly tumbling.
“There is concern about the building structure integrity,” Baker said. “At least one wall collapsed into the building.”
Employees stood outside the building as firefighters worked to quell the flames. Former employee, Chris Valenzuela, went to the burning site and said that the building typically contained wood pallets and items such as mattresses, televisions and other appliances.
The warehouse was inspected in January and again in March, Baker said. Only minor issues were found but none considered violations.
One focus of the investigation will be why what Baker called “a state-of-the-art” sprinkler system failed to limit the fire’s spread. “Obviously, the suppression system didn’t work as intended,” he said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
