Broken hydrants near Stockton recycling plant fire force crews to pivot
STOCKTON — A Stockton recycling plant fire sent plumes of smoke into the air and flames as high as 15 feet late Wednesday night.
Stockton Fire says that when they first arrived at the fire at the Zarc Recycling Center on South California Street, they tried to open up three fire hydrants in the area, but they either wouldn't open, or they had their wrench broken.
The department said it appeared the hydrants had been tampered with, blaming the homeless for the issues.
Stockton police confirmed with CBS13 that two advised encampment cleanups happened on March 21 and March 28 in the area of the fire.
Neighbors say they're not surprised.
"Because they use the hydrants to bathe, to wash their clothes, and when it's hot, they use them to cool off," said neighbor Linda Rhodes.
Even as we were gathering video for this story, a man opened up one of the hydrants to get water from it.
The impacted hydrants forced firefighters to use three ladder trucks to bring in water tenders, pumping 3,000 gallons a minute to put the fire out.
Thursday's daylight showed the damage. On a phone call, CBS13 spoke with the owner of the plant, who said that Stockton's code enforcement is forcing him to demolish multiple buildings on his property that were torched by the fire.
Stockton Fire Battalion Chief Erik Patten said "large piles of electronics, car batteries, propane tanks" were all scorched in the fire. The department says there is an inspection company that goes around to make sure everything is up to date.
Neighbors were worried about wind pushing the fire and potentially toxic smoke east, right into a residential neighborhood nearby on Ninth Street.
"There was too much smoke, though," said resident Marcus Anthony. "My girl has asthma and she was choking, and choking, and it was coming through the house. We were just wondering what it was."
Another neighbor said they would like to see more services in the area for the homeless so they can stop messing with the hydrants and get help somewhere else.
