OAKLAND – Even though a fire at at a metal-recycling facility in West Oakland was declared under control Wednesday night, smoke continued to emanate from the facility Thursday morning and firefighters were still at the scene, authorities said.
The blaze and the clouds of black smoke it belched into the sky also prompted an advisory from air regulators, who warned residents in communities along the East Bay and as far south as San Jose of air-quality hazards.
By Thursday morning, skies were clear in communities far from the site, though smoke remained in the area of the fire and the surrounding neighborhoods. in Oakland. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District said in a social media post that “smoke will likely continue for several hours,” adding that air-monitoring data “do show elevated readings.”
It was not immediately clear what the elevated readings showed.
“The air district is not forecasting an exceedance of the national air quality standard for the region and is not issuing a Spare the Air Alert,” the district said on Wednesday night.
Residents who smell smoke were urged to stay inside with windows and doors closed. Air conditioning units and vehicle ventilation systems should be set to recirculate to keep smoke from moving inside.
The fire was reported around 5:30 p.m. at the company formerly known as Schnitzer Steel, located at 1101 Embarcadero West, said Oakland Interim Fire Chief Damon Covington. The company, which changed its name to Radius Recycling last month, specializes in collecting, processing and selling recycled steel.
Officials said there was no fire threat to surrounding homes and businesses.
In a release Thursday morning, the air district said the fire “started in a scrap metal pile containing aluminum, tin, light iron and steel.” Both the air district and fire department said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. No injuries were reported.
Covington said Wednesday night that crews “got water on the fire, but it grew rapidly.” Smoke from the fire was visible for miles; fire boats from Alameda and San Francisco also provided support from the estuary during the initial attack on the blaze.
Heavy-machinery operators at the business also helped pull apart the debris pile so that firefighters could get to burning portions. The fire was brought under control around 9 p.m., according to Oakland Fire spokesman Michael Hunt.
Oakland Fire Hazardous Material teams and representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency were on the scene Wednesday night, Hunt added. Results from their tests were not publicly available Thursday morning.
Chief Damon Covington provided an update at 915pm on the status of tonight’s incident at Schnitzer Steel. The fire is Under Control. Credit to the 20+ Oakland firefighters & @SFFDPIO & @alamedacityfire fire boats. Smoke continues to be seen as crews put more water on the pile. pic.twitter.com/rfkvxSm8VH
— Oakland Fire Department (CA) (@OaklandFireCA) August 10, 2023
On Thursday, Hunt said, fire crews were “getting all the materials pulled apart and deconstructed to get to what could be the original source and mitigate any hot spots” and to make sure no other fires were ignited elsewhere at the facility. He said there was still some significant smoke.
It was not known how long firefighters would be at the facility.
Similar to the air district, the fire department advised residents to take precautionary health measures such as avoiding the Jack London Square area and keeping windows closed.
According to the Oakland Fire news release, company officials told the city that they had a system in place to contain, collect and filter excess water on the site. However, company officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Bay Area News Group.
The district said it will continue to investigate the fire to determine if there were any violations of air quality regulations. As of 3 p.m. Thursday, officials had received 47 air-pollution complaints.
Smoke from the fire shifted to the south during the during the night and early morning hours, officials said, but because of another wind shift Thursday morning some impacts were being observed north of the fire.
Schnitzer Steel is no stranger to fires – or controversy. In 2021, the Oregon-based company agreed to pay $4.1 million to settle allegations that its metal shredding facility spewed toxic emissions over the surrounding neighborhood. The Oakland Athletics, in a separate lawsuit filed in 2020, also claimed multiple fires had broken out at Schnitzer in recent years. At the time, the baseball team was seeking to redevelop Howard Terminal as a ballpark, a project that was opposed by the company.
In a social media post Wednesday night, Oakland Athletics President Dave Kaval said he was “sad” to see another fire burning at Schnitzer. The baseball team, which had pursued an Oakland waterfront ballpark proposal before abandoning its local efforts to pursue a land deal in Las Vegas, has filed multiple lawsuits against the company and would continue to pursue them.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
