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
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 16, 2006. Read the original PDF.