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Two large fires sparked in the Albuquerque area hours apart from each other
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Two fires sent up smoke that could be seen for miles around Albuquerque on Wednesday—one at a warehouse in the middle of the city and a tire fire on the Pajarito Mesa.
The fire at the AA Events and Tents warehouse along Second NW, north of Interstate 40, resulted in two people being hospitalized.
Their condition was unknown, according to Lt. Jason Fejer, spokesperson for the Albuquerque Fire Rescue.
All lanes of Second, north of the I-40 frontage road, were closed as AFR fought the blaze. Fejer said the fire began just after 2 p.m., and the cause was under investigation.
Fejer said it looked to be an occupational fire that sparked within the warehouse, likely from someone welding. A majority of the black smoke wafting across the city came from plastic materials and other products inside the warehouse, he said.
“This was a deep-seated, well-involved fire, and we actually ran into some difficulties of firefighters becoming disoriented inside the structure,” Fejer said.
Parajito Mesa fire
Two hours after the fire sparked at the warehouse, another was reported in the middle of the Pajarito Mesa, south of the Metropolitan Detention Center.
William Harris, spokesperson for Bernalillo County Fire and Rescue, said they were still investigating the cause of the fire. He said firefighters believed hundreds of illegally dumped tires in the area were the source of the flames, which eventually spread to nearby brush.
“Unfortunately, we have a lot of illegal dumping out here, and eventually what we have is a fire,” Harris said.
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Nobody was injured in the blaze.
