"Apparently what happened is while they were separating the pile, one of the big pieces of equipment picked up a propane tank, it exploded and set some rubbish on fire and it escalated from there," said /*Los Angeles City Fire*/ Assistant Chief Tony Varela.
Firefighters were dispatched to the metal yard located at 1738 E. 24th St. on the west side of Long Beach Boulevard at around 9:32 a.m. Commanders at the scene said the fire was successfully put out at 10:52 a.m.
After the fire was contained, firefighters were told to shed heavy fire coats and use brushfire gear because of hot temperatures.
Firefighters were taking special care to ensure that a container of magnesium was isolated from the fire to avoid any type of explosion. A similar fire earlier this week created a huge explosion when water contacted titanium.
No injuries have been reported.
CNS contributed to this report.
