Date/Time: 6/18/22, 5:12pM
Location: area of East Central & South Lugo, San Bernardino
Incident: Commercial Fire
Summary:
Yesterday evening San Bernardino County Fire crews were dispatched to a reported commercial fire, in the area of East Central & South Lugo, San Bernardino.
Firefighters quickly arrived on-scene to find a large pallet yard on fire with multiple exposures immediately threatened. Arriving crews worked to suppress the large fire & protect nearby exposures. Windy conditions & high heat quickly pushed the fire through the highly combustible pallet yard. A second alarm was quickly struck to bring additional manpower and equipment to the scene. A large amount of ember cast blew through the adjacent area causing additional spot fires, threatening multiple city blocks.
The pallet fire continued to grow through the large stacks of pallets, with firefighters battling high radiant heat from the fire. Arriving crews utilized hand lines & aerial master streams to suppress the fire, working to keep the fire in the pallet yard footprint. A third alarm was requested to bring additional firefighters to the large & dynamic fire. The immediate fire area was evacuated due to the fire threat and power was shut off to ensure firefighters were safe to operate.
Despite firefighters best efforts, the intense fire spread to multiple buildings adjacent to the pallet yard. Downed power lines, gusty winds & high heat made the firefight challenging. At the height of the fire more than 70 personnel were on-scene. A large column of smoke was very visible from throughout the valley and mountain areas.
A San Bernardino County Fire bulldozer and heavy equipment team was also requested to assist with dismantling the large piles and moving pallets from the fires path. Due to the fire impacting multiple buildings with unknown contents, a #SBCoFD Hazardous Materials team also responded.
It took more than four hours to knock down the fire. Firefighters worked through the night working on any hot spots & completing mop-up. Today additional crews will continue to work on the fire.
Three structures were destroyed by the fire & two were damaged. A large amount of pallets were also consumed by the fire. Firefighters were successful in keeping the fire from multiple large occupancies, businesses and adjacent vegetation. No damage estimates were available at the time of the press release. There was one minor injury to a firefighter & was not transported by ambulance. The fire remains under investigation by San Bernardino County Fire and San Bernardino Police.
San Bernardino County Fire responded with 14 Engines, 4 Truck Companies, two Hazardous Material teams, a Heavy Equipment team, an Air/Light, five Chief Officers, multiple Fire Investigators and logistical support personnel. Colton, Loma Linda and Rialto FD assisted with the incident.
