Early Friday morning, about 100 employees were safely evacuated from a three-alarm fire of a third party Amazon distribution warehouse in Redlands.
The fire consumed the massive building crumbling its walls by 2 pm. The warehouse is operated by a third-party company that helps Amazon ship large items, according to the Redlands Fire Department.
Firefighters received the call of a commercial structure fire at the building at 2255 W. Lugonia Ave. at about 5:30 a.m. Friday, June 5, according to the Redlands Fire Department.
Around 7:30 am, San Bernardino County Fire reported that they were assisting the Redlands Fire Department in a three-alarm commercial structure fire at the Amazon Distribution Center.
“We are extremely grateful to our allied agencies for their support,” said Redlands Fire Chief Jim Topoleski.
The City of Redlands was blanketed by a cloud of smoke, at one point; California Highway Patrol closed the westbound freeway to early morning traffic, according the Redlands Fire Department.
According to the Redlands Police Department, by “late afternoon, the fire had been brought under control but several hot spots remained burning inside the remaining walls of the structure. With the structural integrity of the building a major concern, the building’s owners began plans to stabilize the structure and prepare to dismantle it, while firefighters planned to enter with them over the coming days to fully extinguish the fire and continue the investigation into the cause.”
At this time the point of origin is uknown and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
The building is owned by the Kuehne and Nagel Company, a third-party operator that helps Amazon ship extra-large items to customers and the damage is estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the Redlands Fire Department.