MONTBELLO — A massive fire caused more than $1 million worth of damage to a commercial facility early Saturday, officials said.
The fire was first reported at 12:34 a.m. at a business at 760 S. Vail Avenue, Montebello Fire Department Battalion Chief Kevin Collinge said.
The building was full of wooden furniture, pallets and cardboard boxes, providing ample fuel for the flames, he said.
“The fire was very well involved when we got there and it spread very, very quickly,” Collinge said.
The 150-foot by 300-foot building on Vail Avenue was completely destroyed, he said. A second adjoined building of about 150-feet by 150-feet sustained about $100,000 worth primarily water and smoke damage, though firefighters managed to keep the fire itself from spreading into the second building.
“They were able to do a pretty good stop,” Collinge said.
The first firefighters on the scene called for backup, officials said, and a total of about 60 firefighters from several fire departments extinguished the blaze in about two hours.
Firefighters remained at the charred ruins Saturday afternoon watching for possible flare-ups, Collinge said. They were expected to keep an eye on the scene throughout Saturday night.
One firefighter was treated by paramedics for exhaustion during the firefight but did not need to be hospitalized, officials said.
Authorities were concerned about large embers being emitted by causing other nearby buildings to ignite.
“The (burning) cardboard was getting airborne and just flying all over the place,” Collinge said. “The wind was carrying some of those embers (south) probably a good quarter-mile away.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation.