By Carolyn Sackariason
Daily Press Staff Writer

CITY YARDS — Hundreds of shoes, a recycling truck and numerous dumpsters burned here this past weekend, causing at least $100,000 in damage.

The cause of the fire is unknown and currently under investigation, said Santa Monica Fire Battalion Chief Kent Coble.

Thousands of shoes, which are being stored on the southeast corner of the city yards, ignited shortly after 7 p.m. on Saturday. The fire spread to a nearby recycling truck, which was engulfed in flames by the time fire crews arrived at the scene. Nearby containers also caught on fire. Flames reached about 30 feet high.

“It looked like a big bonfire going,” said Coble, who responded to the scene along with three engines. “As far as we can tell, the fire started in the shoes and spread to the truck.”

The area, which abuts a nearby trailer park, is typically used for bin and container storage. But a recent shipment of shoes from West Hollywood and Burbank as part of a recycling program arrived and the solid waste department didn’t have enough room to store them in a shed normally used, said Wes Thompson, solid waste supervisor.

Thousands of shoes — rejects from manufacturers as well as used ones — are sent to Nike headquarters in Oregon, where they are ground up and used for athletic tracks throughout the country, Thompson said.

“They go for all-weather tracks instead of ending up in the landfill,” he said. Thompson added that the shoes were piled in the back portion of the yards because he was waiting for a load of shipping boxes, which were late in arriving.

“Naturally, the boxes showed up today,” he said.

Santa Monica’s city yards was the chosen site for “Reuse a Shoe Recycle Program” because it has the most storage space. Nike pays for all of the costs involved in the program, Thompson said. The shoes have been stashed there for about a month.

Firefighters used foam to extinguish the fire, which was smoldering beneath the shoe pile, and emergency workers tapped into the fire hydrant at the trailer park immediately adjacent to the area.

Deborah Ramber, who lives in the park, said she has complained in the past to city officials about the debris left in that section of the city yards.

“I left a message there on Thursday saying it looked like a pig’s sty,” she said. “Then Saturday rolls around and I swear to God it looked like the trailer park was on fire. The fire was spreading fast ... the flames were skyrocketing.”

Ramber and her neighbors are concerned not only about combustion with debris left lying around but also standing water in the containers and the odor that emanates from the city yards, the recycling center and the transfer station, operated by Southern California Disposal, a private company.

“It’s almost like Southern California Disposal points the finger at the city and the city points the finger at the Southern California Disposal,” Ramber said. “I think the city should get out of the trash business and let Southern California build an enclosed transfer station.”

The area in question is next to Stewart Street Park, separated by a tall fence. On Wednesday morning, several pairs of shoes were strewn throughout the park. A resident walking her dog said she has seen teenagers and homeless people jumping the fence, going for the shoes.