Two people were injured in a massive fire in a storage area in an industrial complex early Friday morning in Newport Beach.
The blaze was reported sometime after 2 a.m. in the 800 block of Production Place, an industrial area on the border of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, according to Newport Fire officials.
Sixteenth Street was shut between Monrovia and Placentia.
Firefighters from Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, and Fountain Valley were on the scene to fight the blaze which was mostly under control around 6 a.m.
One victim was hospitalized with third-degree burns, said Newport Beach Fire Battalion Chief Jeff Boyles. Another was reported to have been treated for smoke inhalation, but it was unclear if they were hospitalized.
The 4-alarm fire, which Boyles said measured about 200 feet by 50 feet, damaged several cars in what appeared to have been a parking garage or carport.
Boyles said firefighters were investigating the possibility of there being victims in the burned area.
“(Transients) sometimes live in that area,” he said. Fire investigators were expected to be on the scene most of the morning.
Several people were waiting outside to start an early day of work. They said other workers sometimes work overnight or early shifts.
Ramiro Gonzalez works at a metal refinishing business nearby and was supposed to start work at 5 a.m. but was instead met by police tape.
“They said we wouldn’t be able to get in for a few hours,” he said while watching the large, white clouds of smoke coming from the blaze.
No cause has been given yet by authorities.
Many residents were awakened by what sounded like “explosions” and helicopters flying overhead.
Kathy Walls, 69, lives near the scene and said it was about 2:30 a.m. when she heard a succession of blasts.
“It woke me up and kept going. It was very scary because we have so many industrial places, and I’m sure they have materials that are flammable.”