The heavy smell of burnt rubber permeated the air and a thick haze wafted over South County after a large fire broke out at a metal recycling facility Monday morning in Redwood City, according to forecaster Steve Anderson with the National Weather Service in Monterey.
“I would say it’s from Redwood City,” Anderson confirmed. “Winds are calm or very light from the north and are bringing any smoke from Redwood City south.”
About an hour and 20 minute drive south from Gilroy down Highway 1, hundreds of firefighters and volunteers also battled blazes from another wildfire in Big Sur, which started late Sunday near the intersection of Pfeiffer Ridge Road and Highway 1, said Andrew Madsen, a spokesman for the Los Padres National Forest. By Wednesday, the fire had desecrated 769 acres and burned 22 structures – including the home of the chief of the Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade – but is expected to be fully contained later this week thanks to cooler temperatures and the chance of rain showers.
Residents living on Pfeiffer Ridge Road were evacuated but Big Sur village businesses continued to operate, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The fire was 20 percent contained by Tuesday afternoon and expected to be fully contained by Friday, the U.S. Forest Service reported.
“Obviously, we’ve moved out of that really cold pattern we’ve had for the past week or so,” Madsen said of the region, which hasn’t burned in a century. “This is an area that hasn’t had fire in a while, a lot of the vegetation is very dry.”
Officials have determined a point of origin for the fire near the Big Sur Lodge, but how it sparked remains under investigation as of Wednesday.
“This serves as a reminder that fire season in California is year round,” Madsen said.
No firefighters from Gilroy or Morgan Hill were dispatched to the Redwood City or Big Sur fires, according to CalFire Battalion Chief Brandon Leitzke.
The blaze at Sims Metal Management at 699 Seaport Blvd. in Redwood City was out by 9:45 a.m. Monday. The cause is still under investigation and the burning pile of scrap metal measured 75-by-100-by-30-feet tall, said Fire Marshal Jim Palisi with the Redwood City Fire Department.
“Everything is out now, and unfortunately it’s just that drifting smoke,” he observed late Monday morning.
When asked how long the odor and smoke would linger over South County, Palisi said it all depends on breeze patterns, which are expected to become windy Thursday night, according to Anderson.
Approximately 60 emergency services personnel were assigned to the fire – the second one to occur at Sims’ Redwood City plant since Nov. 10. No one was injured, Palisi reports.
As a result of the Redwood City fire, residents from various areas throughout Santa Clara County reported smelling strong fumes, according to an air quality announcement from the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.
“Some people in various regions of Santa Clara County may also be smelling smoke from the fire in Big Sur,” the announcement read. “In addition, a ‘Spare the Air’ alert remains in effect for all over the Bay Area.”
In Morgan Hill, the district office sent emails out in the early morning to its site principals instructing them to use their best judgment in determining whether students should be allowed outside for school activities during the day. If the air quality was poor, principals were instructed to follow a rainy day schedule. They were also instructed to use special care of students with any kind of asthmatic condition. At Paradise Valley Elementary School, students were kept inside for recesses. Later in the day, after receiving an air quality announcement from the county, the district then instructed staff to keep all students inside when possible.
Similar precautions were taken in Gilroy, where “a number of principals have called expressing concern about the air quality” and the “unusual smell like burning tires,” relayed Gina Coffman, assistant to the superintendent.
