SAN JOSE – Firefighters battled a hearth at a metal recycling and scrap yard in San Jose on Saturday that sent a dark plume of smoke visible for miles into the sky.
The fire broke out before 8 a.m. at Mega Metals & Iron, a scrap metal, recycling and junk yard, but San Jose Fire Department had the blaze under control shortly after 9 a.m.
The fire broke out near the intersection of State Route 87 and Curtner Avenue, not removed from The Plant restaurant and shopping mall.
Firefighters also cleared a homeless camp that had formed along the railroad tracks next to the metal storage yard, said San Jose Fire Department Battalion Chief Dan Vega.
“There is a lot of scrap metal in there and we had to get to the bottom of the pile to put out the fire,” said Battalion Commander Vega.
San Jose Fire Department used excavation equipment to remove huge piles of scrap metal caught in the fireplace.
While the excavator moved the rubble, firefighters pumped water into the piles of metal to extinguish embers beneath the mountains of fabric.
San Jose police blocked off several intersections near the fireplace.
For a part of the morning, a cloud of smoke hovered over the fireplace and was visible for miles. Vega said a single alarm was all it took for firefighters to tackle and extinguish the fireplace.
The reason behind the fireplace will not be immediately known, said Vega. No injuries were reported. No buildings gave the impression to be affected.
The area where the fireplace broke out consists mainly of commercial and industrial properties and businesses, although there are also residential buildings nearby. The owner of the scrap metal complex arrived on the scene of the fireplace through the morning.
“Some homeless people on the other side near the railroad tracks had to be evacuated,” said Chief Vega.
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