BY DAVID BORBOA & COREY PRIDE
The Westside Express
A huge fire in Firebaugh on July 21 lit up the night sky as people saw huge flames and smoke visible all the way to Mendota and Dos Palos.
The fire took place at the TomaTek tomato processing plant, located on Highway 33 at the south end of the city.
Firebaugh Fire Chief Michael Molina said that the call came in at 3:45 a.m.
The fire started in a recycling area of the plant away from the processing facility, the chief said.
“This is near the grading station where tomato trucks loaded with product check in to the plant,” he said.
What burned were wooden pallets, cardboard, fiber and plastic drums, crates, and other materials.
“There was plenty of fuel that burned,” he added. “And it was a very hot fire. You could feel the heat from 20 to 30 feet away. It was that hot.”
The Firebaugh Fire Department responded with its three trucks and 18 firefighters. They were joined in the battle by Madera County, which dispatched a water tender, and Fresno County, which sent two water tenders and another truck, bringing the total number of first responders to 28.
The firefighters were able to keep the blaze away from the main plant, which has started its 24-hour summer processing season.
“The plant was able to keep running, but they did throttle it back some,” Molina said.
The fire was brought under control at about 6:30 a.m. and the firefighters wrapped it up at about 10 a.m.
The chief added that there were no injuries to firefighters and at no time were employees in any danger.
Chief Molina and Battalion Chief Hector Marin met with an insurance investigator in the aftermath to try to determine the cause of the blaze. Initial estimates put the damage at about $2 million.
The Neil Jones Food Company, headquartered in Vancouver, Wash., owns TomaTek. The company released a statement thanking firefighters and other emergency services members and expressing gratitude for everyone’s safety.
“No employees were harmed and there was no impact on our plant operations,” the company stated. “The safety and well-being of our employees, contractors, and neighbors are our first priority.”
The cause of the fire remained under investigation as of presstime. Neil Jones Food Company has stated that it will update the public when a cause is determined.
