Debris Reignites Flames at Factory

Smoldering debris ignited briefly outside a South Gate plastics factory Saturday, sending flames and a black column of smoke into the sky for the second time in as many days.

Los Angeles County firefighters spent much of Friday night battling a raging blaze that tore through a storage area for plastic containers at Productivity California in the 10600 block of Sessler Street, near the Long Beach Freeway and Imperial Highway. The site was erroneously identified earlier as White Metal Products Inc.

Productivity California, which is housed in a nondescript warehouse surrounded by other industrial businesses, manufactures plastic planters and other containers.

The blaze downed several power lines, exploded oil drums and led South Gate police to evacuate as many as 200 nearby residents.

By Saturday morning, residents were allowed to return. Electrical service also was restored to 400 homes that had lost power, according to Southern California Edison.

There was some concern Friday about the possibility of the burning plastic spreading toxic materials into the neighborhood’s air or the nearby Los Angeles River.

Fire officials said Saturday that there were “zero environmental hazards” because none of the runoff from extinguishing the blaze reached the river, and that Air Quality Management District tests of the air “were fine.”

The flare-up occurred as cleanup crews were working near the base of an electrical line tower, said county fire spokesman Brian Jordan. It was extinguished in less than 20 minutes by firefighters who had remained near the scene to handle such an event, he said.

The flare-up gave nearby residents, some of whom had returned to their homes just a few hours earlier after spending the night with relatives, a case of the jitters.

Martin Elizando and his wife, returning from a night out Friday to find their street blocked off, spent the night at his sister’s home.

When the sparks reignited Saturday, Elizando clambered onto his roof and peered over his backyard wall for a closer look at the roiling flames. “I’m worried,” he said.

Jordan said flare-ups were not uncommon, and that a fire crew would remain on the scene to monitor the situation.