Smoke filled the air near the Yolo Causeway early Saturday morning as piles of agricultural materials caught fire outside a local sustainable processing plant.
Fire trucks from South Davis responded to a call at 4:37 a.m. of smoldering rice hull by-products at Frontier Ag on Chiles Road near Interstate 80. About a quarter-acre was burned.
The fire was confined to small piles behind the company’s building. Within 20 minutes of the local fire team’s arrival, the flames were suppressed.
“They got the situation quickly under control and left once there was no danger of it extending,” said Paul Swanson, Fire Department division chief. “From there, (Frontier Ag) used their heavy equipment to spread the piles around to further eradicate the fire.”
Since the burned piles were secondary products derived from the rice hull manufacturing process, it is unlikely the company will suffer significant financial damages, Swanson said.
“These sorts of incidents are not uncommon,” Swanson explained. “Still, it’s not something anyone likes to see.”
The cause of the blaze is under investigation.