Limoneira Packing Plant Fire Now Out

A fire at the Limoneira packing plant is now out. It happened in the 1100 block of Cummings Road in Santa Paula just before 9:30 Monday morning.

The fire started in the basement of the massive packing plant. Because the building is so large and full of wood and other combustible materials, it took fire crews several hours to inspect and make sure the building was clear and the fire was completely out.

“All these trucks out here, it is pretty amazing how Ventura County really responded to the fire,” said Limoneira employee Jeff Castillo.

More than 60 firefighters from five different agencies assisted in putting out the fire.

“It’s a large lemon packing house and that’s where we pack the fresh lemons that get put into the 40-pound boxes that you buy at the supermarket or in your restaurants,” said Limoneira CEO Harold Edwards.

The fire started between a small room in the basement and the first floor.

“There was a joint that was being welded and apparently an ember from the welding got down into the wood and ignited,” said Edwards.

When employees noticed the smoke rising from the basement, they put the Limoneira emergency plan into action and got everyone out of the building.

“They were able to evacuate the building prior to our arrival. That relieves the complex issues of rescue we would essentially have to deal with, if we arrived with people in the building. That freed more firefighters up to find the seed of the fire,” said Capt. Mike Lindbery with the Ventura County Fire Department.

While the fire was quickly extinguished, firefighters still had several more hours of work ahead of them– checking every floor for hot embers, and ventilating the structure to let out smoke and hot air.

“These structures are very sensitive and difficult to deal with in a fire condition. They are old and have a lot of areas that fire can travel, and even if you think you have a fire out in one of these things it can pop up in another place in the structure by traveling through some of the shafts,” said Lindbery.

Investigators determined the fire was started by a welding operation. No one was injured as a result of the fire.

At this point, a dollar amount has not been released on how much damage the fire created.

The Limoneira packing facility should be back in business by Tuesday morning.