Blaze not a danger, EPA says

Chemicals in Fresno woodpile smoke not at harmful levels.

By Jennifer Fitzenberger
The Fresno Bee

(Updated Monday, January 20, 2003, 6:15 AM)

Chemical levels in a thick plume wafting from a woodpile fire in southwest Fresno won't harm the public, officials said Sunday.

Air samples taken Wednesday at Archie Crippen Excavation near Marks and Nielsen avenues contain hazardous chemicals, but not enough to cause concern.

"The issue is concentration -- whether it's a risk," said Michelle Rogow, an on-scene coordinator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "At this time, we don't believe they are."

_____ Related item _____ • Last Gasp: A special report on air pollution in the Valley

City officials expressed relief at the news. "I'm glad to hear ... there is no danger off the site," City Manager Dan Hobbs said.

"The worst is over. It's just going to get better at this point."

Sunday marked the ninth day of the blaze, sizzling through 100,000 cubic yards of asphalt, concrete, mattresses, wood, metal, plastics and auto parts. Firefighters are working day and night to put out the fire, which they hope to extinguish by 5 p.m. Friday.

Rogow said chemicals found in air at the pile are consistent with those found at similar fires: Benzene and chloromethane. Benzene is found in gasoline and other fuels; chloromethane often is generated from trash and other waste products.

"If found in higher concentrations, they could possibly cause a risk to the population," Rogow said. "But not at this point."

Also, air quality has improved since last Monday, said Evan Shipp, supervising meteorologist with the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. "That's evidence of it being able to disperse," Shipp said.

The smoke, though, is an irritant, and the public should stay away from it. "If you smell smoke, take necessary health precautions," Shipp said.

Fliers about the dangers of breathing smoke were distributed Sunday to church congregations in west Fresno.

Keith Kelley, executive director of Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development, distributed the fliers in hopes of raising public awareness of fire-related health issues.

About 2,000 fliers printed in English and Spanish were passed out. Another 500 in Hmong were distributed.

At Trinity Church of God in Christ, Kelley handed a stack of fliers to head usher Sharon Williams. "We want to make sure people know about it in the community," Kelley told Williams. "Please tell some neighbors also."

Williams, who has grandchildren with severe asthma, nodded with understanding: "Thank you for this information. We need it." Trinity Church is about a mile from the fire.

Pastor Daniel Lopez smiled when Williams gave him a stack of fliers at El Taberna Culo Assembly of God. "I'll keep this, and I'll tell the people," Lopez said.

Lopez knows first-hand what it's like to suffer in the smoke. It made him cough and wheeze Saturday while pulling weeds in his west Fresno back yard.

Lopez's wife, Ruth, said children mistake the smoke for clouds. She tells them, "That's not clouds. That's smoke," she said.

Kelley wants businesses like Crippen's to move farther away from the city. "It happened. Now we just have to make sure it gets cleaned up," Kelley said.

Mayor Alan Autry pledged Sunday to form a task force to investigate "events associated with" the fire, which ignited by spontaneous combustion.

Fresno City Council Member Cynthia Sterling and Deputy Mayor Roger Montero will lead the task force, which will examine the city's conditional-use permit process and the impact of waste and recycling centers in west Fresno.

"We will do everything we can to make sure incidents like this don't happen again," Sterling said.

For now, officials want to stop the fire. A second excavating machine was brought in Sunday to help gut the football field-sized mound.

The excavator scoops out the rubbish, which then is bulldozed into a pond of water. When flames are extinguished, the soot is moved to the side.

Two ladder pipes are spewing up to 2,000 gallons of water per minute on the pile to tame flames and suppress floating particulates.

"We have a good game plan going," Fresno interim Fire Chief Joel Aranaz said. "We'll continue with these operations until we get this fire put out."

The reporter can be reached at jfitzenberger@fresnobee.com or 441-6313.