Foam hastens work on pile fire

By Louis Galvan
The Fresno Bee

(Updated Wednesday, January 22, 2003, 10:04 AM)

Standing in front of the stubborn woodpile blaze in southwest Fresno, Doug Hicks, a state forestry department division chief, liked what he saw.

The fog was gone, and a rainbow framed by a bright-blue sky arched over the pile. But that wasn't the view Hicks' reddened eyes enjoyed the most Tuesday afternoon.

It was the sight of heavy equipment on top of the 25-foot-high pile for the first time since the fire, caused by spontaneous combustion, broke out Jan. 11 at Archie Crippen Excavation near Marks and Nielsen avenues.

Now, instead of fighting the fire from the ground, "we can get on top and pick out the hot spots," said Hicks, who is based in Fresno County. Workers and equipment now can move safely at a faster pace, he said.

Two hours after firefighters started applying foam to the fire for the first time, Hicks, operations section chief at the scene, said it was "visually" apparent to him that the technique was working.

A small amount of foam mixed with water is designed not to smother the blaze, but to penetrate the pile, cool off hot spots and trap particulate matter.

Before the foam was introduced, an aerial truck was pumping 850 gallons of water per minute to cool off the hot spots and allow the bulldozers and backhoes to work on the pile. But because of the heat from the fires, Hicks said, the equipment and their operators could work only around the edges.

Once the foam was introduced, he said, the water flow was reduced to 500 gallons per minute. "This will be a great help in dealing with the waste water," he said.

Hicks said getting on top of the pile is critical because it will be easier for firefighters to find burning material on the expanse of refuse, which is about the size of a football field.

Janet Marshall, a spokeswoman for the state's Office of Emergency Services, said about 10% of the 5-acre site that is burning has been cleared and declared under control.

The cooling off of a section of the pile before equipment moves in is a matter of safety, Marshall said. "The steam coming out of those hot spots is very dangerous," she said.

Firefighters are working around the clock -- 20 during the day and six through the night. Also on hand is an eight-member crew from the Coast Guard's Pacific Strike Team in Novato, one of three Coast Guard teams nationwide assigned to help with the disposal of waste water.

Hicks and Mark Merchant, an EPA spokesman, both said they can't guess how long the fire will continue to burn. Merchant leaned toward earlier estimates of 10 days to two weeks.

Hicks said the foam will pick up the pace of fighting the fire, but it was too early to predict when it will be extinguished.

The reporter can be reached at lgalvan@fresnobee.com or 441-6139.