Industrial Fire At Sacramento Recycling Plant Sends Large Plume Of Smoke Into Sky

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Firefighters have a handle on an industrial fire that smoldered late into the night on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, a massive smoke column from the recycling plant near Power Inn and Elder Creek roads could be seen for miles.

On Tuesday night, firefighters kept a close eye on the recycling plant fire, continuing to pour water onto it more than six hours after it caught fire and exploded in size.

Temperatures soared into the triple digits and are expected to keep going that high through most of the week.

"The moment we saw black smoke we knew we were in for a fight, we put multiple master streams, but we really had to get the troops in there," said Roberto Padilla with the Sacramento Fire Department.

The intense flames sent a massive smoke column in the air for all of Sacramento to see.
The fire broke out at Sierra Waste, a commercial recycling facility.

Firefighters blocked off the street with equipment, forcing nearby employees to stay at work.

Paul Protosovitskiy is one of the employees who couldn't leave. He says there was a moment--he thought the fire could spread to his office complex.

"When the fence started burning, because I used to work for this company right behind us, and the fence started burning and the transformers went up in flames," he said.

Winds sent ash and embers into nearby neighborhoods, causing several grass fires that were quickly put out.

Firefighters are concerned about smoldering that could turn into a flareup.

One firefighter out of 75 who battled the blaze was taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion.