A two-alarm fire ripped through a packaging-foam business at a Kearny Mesa industrial park Wednesday, causing an estimated $775,000 worth of damage and forcing evacuations.
A mechanical malfunction during routine equipment testing ignited the non-injury blaze at E-Z Flow Foam Systems in the 8200 block of Ronson Road shortly after 12:30 p.m., according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
Crews arrived to find heavy smoke and flames pouring out of the company's manufacturing, warehouse and office spaces. By then, workers had safely cleared out of the burning building and nearby commercial units, SDFRD
spokesman Lee Swanson said.
It took firefighters about a half-hour to extinguish the blaze.
A hazardous materials team was called in to check the site for toxins that may have been released by the heat and combustion, Swanson said. The personnel were still running tests as of late afternoon but had detected the
presence of no unhealthy substances.
Investigators set the monetary losses at $500,000 to the structure and $275,000 to contents, and ruled the fire accidental in nature.
