Breathing Easier

Smoke lets up as woodpile fire in Fresno is about 50% controlled.

By Louis Galvan
The Fresno Bee

(Updated Saturday, January 25, 2003, 4:24 AM)

Fire crews battling the 2-week-old woodpile blaze in southwest Fresno were reported about halfway through the mess Friday, but some nearby residents didn't have to be told about the progress.

"You can tell the smoke is not as bad as it was two or three days ago," said Paul Sanchez, 37. "The smell is not as bad, and you can breathe the air again."

A few days ago, however, the stench from the smoke was so bad no one spent too much time outdoors, he said.

"It smelled like railroad ties were burning," Sanchez said, wrinkling his nose.

Chris Burton, 29, a neighbor who suffers from asthma, agreed. "I hadn't been able to go outside much," he said, enjoying the "fresh air" from his front yard.

The two men live in an area known as Parkside, just off Belmont Avenue and south of Roeding Park and west of Freeway 99.

Their homes are less than two miles west and downwind of the smoldering fire at Archie Crippen Excavation at Marks and Nielsen avenues.

The fire, caused by spontaneous combustion, broke out Jan. 11, unleashing almost immediate health and environmental concerns among some residents and government agencies.

Another neighbor, Elsa Hernandez, 31, who is eight months' pregnant, came down with sinus problems a few days after the fire started and her doctor advised her to stay indoors after the doctor learned she was being exposed to smoke and fallout.

Hernandez, who has an active 5-year-old daughter, has found staying indoors hard to do.

A few blocks away, Pete Medellin, 78, stopped mowing his front yard long enough to say he thought people were making too much of the fire. Yes, he was sure some have become sick because of the smoke, but he didn't think the situation was critical.

Medellin, a retired construction worker, said he worked for more than 20 years in worse conditions, including handling hot asphalt.

"This smoke hasn't bothered me," he said, starting up his lawn mower again.

Maria Hernandez Garcia and her mother, Marcelina Garcia, said they were neither aware of the fire nor of any of the health concerns.

"We don't know how to read," the daughter said in Spanish. "We watch television, but we don't pay attention to the news."

Of course, they have noticed the smell of smoke, but they thought the odor was gas fumes from traffic on nearby Freeway 99, the mother said.

"So what's all the fuss about?" the daughter wanted to know.

Bill Shelton, 62, knows what the fuss is about.

Shelton, who suffers from emphysema linked to years of cigarette smoking and welding, said the bad air has made him a prisoner in his home since the fire broke out.

Shelton lives in a small trailer park on Belmont Avenue about two blocks from the fire, which is visible from his front door.

"I'm afraid to go out," he said. "It's gotten real rough for me to breathe."

Shelton, who uses a nebulizer to treat his emphysema, said he has been forced to increase his treatments from an average of three times daily to about six.

That means he runs out of medication more quickly, so it's costing him more to maintain the medicine he needs.

"I'm glad they're getting a good handle on that fire," he said. "Like I said, it's been rough."

Janet Marshall, an on-site spokeswoman for the Governor's Office of Emergency Services, said the fire, which is spread out over 4.8 acres in a two-story-high mountain of wood, concrete, asphalt, metal, brick, sheet rock and other materials, was about 50% under control.

No one at the site, however, will say when the operation is expected to be completed.

A shipment of more than 700 gallons of foam concentrate, which was expected to arrive Friday from Atlanta, arrived on time and more has been ordered. Firefighters mix the concentrate with water.

Two aerial fire rigs are each pumping 500 gallons of water per minute into the blaze. Two bulldozers and two excavators are breaking up the pile and clearing the field of the burning materials.

The water being used in the operation is being pumped by a Coast Guard team trained in the disposal of waste water. The water is being stored in five portable tanks, each capable of holding 21,000 gallons, said Doug Hicks, a division chief with the California Department of Forestry-Fresno County Fire Department.

As of noon Friday, about 40,000 gallons of the waste water had been pumped into the tanks.

The Coast Guard will test the water to determine whether it can be treated and reused for the fire suppression. If it can't be reused, the water will be transported to a waste site.

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

to read The Bee's special report "Last Gasp"