Massive fire burning at power pole yard in Fresno

Byby Elissa Harrington KGO logo
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Piles of power poles burn at yard in Fresno
A pile of power poles that are used by PG&E caught fire at a yard in Fresno Thursday morning.

FRESNO (KGO) -- Fresno Firefighters are on the scene of a large vegetation and power pole fire in West Central Fresno.

This fire is burning in a rural area where there are no fire hydrants. It's making it very difficult for firefighters to extinguish. They're shuttling water tenders to the site and are working to establish an adequate water supply.

The huge fire started around 4 a.m. close to Highway 99 in northwest Fresno at Golden State Boulevard. Rising columns of smoke can be seen from two miles away. It's burning at a private lumber yard that sells power poles to PG&E and other companies.

The fire is burning the power poles near train tracks. Firefighters are watching the winds and say they usually shift around 9 a.m. which would push the flames northwest.

The objective is to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading. It could take up to 12 hours to put this out.