PORT HUENEME : Packinghouse Blaze Under Investigation
Fire and environmental safety officials are investigating a blaze at an old Port Hueneme packinghouse that gutted about a third of the 92,800-square-foot building, authorities said.
The three-alarm fire erupted about 2:30 a.m. Sunday at the Ranch King Packing House in the 6800 block of Arnold Road, said Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Jules Griggs.
Officials of Hazardous Materials and Environmental Health are studying the contents of more than a dozen 55-gallon drums found at the site, some of which appeared to have contained a type of turpentine- and kerosene-based substance, Griggs said.
The hazardous materials may have caused an explosion at the scene that threw flames 50 feet into the air and collapsed a roof as firefighters struggled to extinguish the blaze, Griggs said.
The structure had been converted into about 10 storage units, three of which were destroyed, and the building had no sprinklers or fire alarms, he said.
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