A commercial structure fire tore through the roof of a large warehouse in Rancho Cucamonga early Thursday morning, sending firefighters into a defensive attack from outside the building as a hazardous materials team was called in over an unidentified hazard. The blaze broke out on the 9800 block of 6th Street, and crews worked through the night to keep it from spreading further.
Rancho Cucamonga firefighters were dispatched at approximately 1:41 a.m. on Thursday, according to onscene.tv. Rather than sending crews inside, firefighters attacked the flames from outside using aerial master streams and deck guns, a defensive approach typically reserved for structures considered too dangerous to enter.
A Sprinkler System Shut Off Minutes Before the Call
In the hours before the fire was reported, a fire investigator had responded to an earlier alarm at the same facility, according to radio traffic cited in the outlet's report. That investigator reportedly observed water flowing from the sprinkler system on the building's east side but was unable to get inside the structure.
Unable to access the building, the investigator reportedly shut off the sprinkler system and left the scene roughly five minutes before a nearby fire was dispatched, per the same account. Upon hearing the new call go out, the investigator immediately upgraded the response to a commercial structure fire, according to radio traffic.
Hazmat Called, Cause Still Unclear
A hazardous materials team was requested because of an unidentified potential hazard inside the building, the report notes. As of the outlet's reporting, the cause of the fire remains unknown, and no connection between the earlier sprinkler incident and the fire has been established.
Large-scale warehouse and industrial fires have become a recurring concern across Southern California in recent months. In June, a fire tore through the solar panel-covered roof of a 500,000-square-foot cold storage facility in Los Angeles, sending dark smoke and ammonia into the surrounding area, according to theguardian.com. That blaze drew about 110 firefighters, including city and county personnel, and prompted officials to order nearby residents to shelter in place as crews later retreated from the roof after an ammonia line burst, relying on at least three helicopters to drop water on the flames.
In April, a massive fire destroyed a 1.2-million-square-foot Ontario warehouse operated by NFI Industries that stored household paper products such as paper towels, diapers and facial tissues, according to dailybulletin.com. That fire destroyed roughly $500 million in warehouse contents, and a man named Chamel A. Abdulkarim later pleaded not guilty to seven arson-related counts connected to the blaze.
No details have been released about the building's owner, tenant or the exact nature of the hazard that prompted the hazmat response in Rancho Cucamonga. For now, fire officials have confirmed only that the cause remains unknown and that the earlier sprinkler shutoff has not been tied to the fire.
