On June 14, 2016 at approximately 0200 hours, a fire started at Panda International Trading (PIT) located at 3570 Fruitland Ave., Maywood, CA. Fruitland Ave. is a commercial/light manufacturing district. Directly bordering the south of the site is a residential neighborhood of single family homes. The facility holds two businesses, PIT and SKOOR Metals. PIT is a scrap metal yard that send scrap metal out in bulk for recovery. SKOOR is a precious metals recovery operation that recovers precious metals from circuit boards and other electronics.
At the PIT site there is approximately 10,000 pounds of magnesium. On the morning of June 14, 2016, during firefighting operations, the magnesium exploded twice, showering Fruitland Ave. and the adjacent residential neighborhood with chunks of burning magnesium. Due to the hazards associated with fighting this fire, the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) has adopted a defensive firefighting mode and is allowing the fire to burn. EPA assistance was requested by LACoFD Health Hazmat Division. Upon arriving EPA was tasked with providing air surveillance for the fire. OSC Wise delegated the EPA START contractor with this task.
At 1700 hours on June 16, 2016, EPA was referred the site by LACoFD Health Hazmat Division and OSC R. Wise initiated a CERCLA removal action using his delegated procurement authority. EPA is in a Unified Command with LACo Public Health.
