A second-alarm fire burned Tuesday in piles of metal shavings at a commercial building in Carson, prompting some evacuations but resulting in no injuries, authorities said.
About four dozen firefighters and a hazardous-materials team were sent to the 200 block of East Gardena Boulevard after the blaze was reported about 10:15 a.m., county fire Inspector Randall Wright said.
The fire, which was extinguished in a little more than two hours, originated in piles of metal shavings and spread to a structure.
Arriving fire crews were deployed in a defensive mode because of the dangers of pouring water onto a metal fire, which could send up sparks and ignite other structures or cause injuries, Wright said.
Evacuations were ordered for about 100 people in businesses within about a block of the fire scene as a precaution. The evacuations were lifted early this afternoon.
The cause of the fire was under investigation. A damage estimate was not immediately available.
—City News Service