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Former Salinas resident and current Central Valley Congressman Jeff Denham said a Thursday warehouse fire at his business won't interrupt operations of Denham Plastics.
The blaze, which broke out about 4:25 p.m. in the large warehouse at 1037 Abbott St., left the building and contents a total loss, fire officials said. The estimated damage to the building and contents was $2 million, they said.
But Denham, R-Atwater, said in a statement today, "Denham Plastics remains operational and will rebuild."
Denham, a former state senator who represented the Salinas Valley in the Legislature after he moved to the Central Valley, is a partner in the company that supplies reusable produce containers.
"I appreciate the rapid response of local businesses that delivered forklifts, equipment and temporary structures and office space that will allow the company to continue servicing its customers," Denham said.
His chief of staff, Jason Larrabee, said Denham was flying from Washington, D.C., to California when he learned about the fire.
"He came right to the site" late Thursday, he said.
Denham's partner, Mike Hutchings, runs the day-to-day business operations.
"We were making our first delivery at 8:30 a.m. this morning," he said.
Many of the containers the company sells go straight to customers from manufacturing plants back east, he said. There was a lot of inventory outside the warehouse that was spared by the fire.
Denham praised firefighters for containing the blaze so adjacent businesses weren't damaged in the industrial area.
About 40 firefighters battled the fire, which burned fiercely through the plastic material and sent plumes of heavy black smoke into the air.
"It had to be burning at 2,000 degrees in there," fire Capt. Pat O'Connell said.
Salinas fire Battalion Chief Scott Myhre said the plant is used to clean and sterilize containers supplied by the company. The plastic containers created the black smoke, he said.
County environmental health officials were at the scene to ensure no toxins were released into the air or water, Myhre said. They found no problems.
Fire investigators hadn't determined a cause. The fire broke out about 20 minutes after the plant shut for the day, and no one was inside the building, Myhre said.
A handful of employees work at the warehouse.
"There's not a lot, but they are like family to us," Hutchings said. "Everybody is safe and sound, that is all we care about."
Larry Parsons can be reached at 646-4379 or lparsons@montereyherald.com.
