Fire damages prune packing facility

An early morning fire Friday did damage to a prune packing facility on Avenue 128, southeast of Porterville.

An early morning fire Friday did damage to a prune packing facility on Avenue 128, southeast of Porterville.

Tulare County Fire Capt. Joanne Bear said the fire was mostly to the outside of the Renegade Prune Company facility, but fire did get into the walls of the cold storage and also destroyed some product inside.

She estimated the loss to be between $200,000 and $300,000, but most of the facility was saved.

She said the savings is in the millions of dollars and the facility is still able to operate. The facility sold prunes by bulk, juice and even canned prunes.

The blaze was reported at 1:12 a.m. and by 1:37 a.m. firefighters had knocked down the flames, but spent more than an hour to extinguish all the hot spots, she said.

She said the cause of the fire is under investigation.

The county had two battalion chiefs, two water tenders, breathing support, five engines and a patrol. They were assisted by one engine from the City of Porterville. Bear said 13 personnel were on scene.

The fire occurred less than 24 hours after the fire broke out at the old Lake Express Market on Highway 190 which destroyed that vacant store and gas station. Bear said the cause of that fire also remains under investigation.