Massive fire burns at Redwood City metal scrapyard

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (KRON) — Redwood City Fire Department and Mountain View Fire Department crews responded Wednesday to a large fire at Sims Metal, a metal recycling facility on Seaport Boulevard in Redwood City. Fire officials shared news of the fire at approximately 3:20 p.m.

Thick, dark smoke was visible from miles away, accompanied by “the smell of burning plastic,” fire crews said.

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Officials said there is potential for smoke impacts in the area and downwind neighborhoods. Smoke is making its way to Sunnyvale, but Sunnyvale’s Department of Public Safety said there was no active fire.

Based on plume modeling, the smoke headed south along the Bayside coast of San Mateo County, over the Dumbarton Bridge and into Santa Clara County, San Mateo County said in a statement.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District said inspectors are investigating the cause of the fire. Officials recommended that all residents sensitive to smoke remain indoors with windows and doors closed to avoid exposure.

There were no injuries or damage to property, Sims Metal said.

For the time being, Mountain View fire officials asked not to call 9-1-1 “unless you see an active fire.”

As of 5 p.m., fire crews were able to gain control of the fire in roughly two hours but are expected to extinguish the fire throughout the evening, fire crews said.

Read a full statement from Sims Metal below:

“At approximately 2:55 pm on Wednesday 22 May, we experienced a fire at our metal recycling facility in Redwood City.   The Redwood City Fire Department was contacted and responded quickly to our location. Our team worked alongside the Redwood City Fire Department and the fire was extinguished just after 5.30pm. There have been no injuries or damage to property.

While still too early to confirm the cause of the incident we are working with the Redwood City Fire Department and local authorities to investigate.

Sims Metal apologizes for any disruption caused as a result of the incident. We want to thank the Redwood City Fire Department and all those, including our onsite team, who acted diligently to extinguish the fire safely.“

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