1,200 pallets destroyed in Thermal fire

Cal Fire was called to a pallet fire that shut down Grapefruit Boulevard in Thermal Wednesday afternoon. The fire ignited at a pallet yard in the 52000 block of Grapefruit Blvd between Airport Boulevard and Avenue 52 at about 1:40 p.m.

Officials believe the fire started in a dumpster. The exact cause of the fire is under investigation.

Grapefruit Boulevard was shut down between Airport Boulevard and 52nd Avenue while firefighters were on scene. Crews expected the road to reopen at about 3:45 p.m.

KESQ and CBS Local 2’s Joe Galli was reporting during the fire. He learned 1,200 pallets were destroyed but thousands more were saved. An inoperable Dodge Caravan was also damaged.

Nobody was hurt in the fire and nobody was working at the pallet yard at the time. One person at the scene said employees were down the road when the fire ignited. They saw the smoke and called the fire department. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone at the loading yard when the fire ignited, employees said.

We’ll have updates as firefighters continue to investigate the cause of the fire.

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