Fire at Taylor Farms facility forces people to evacuate

SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV)- People were forced to evacuate the area because of the fire burning at the Taylor Farms facility.

By Thursday afternoon, the City lifted evacuation and shelter-in-place orders. Earlier in the day, Salinas Police blocked off the intersection of Airport Boulevard and Tervan Avenue.

Joe Vega worked at a facility near Taylor Farms and captured the building on fire with his cellphone. Flames and plumes of smoke can be seen shooting out of the building.

He told KION he could feel the heat from the fire.

“That fire was huge, you could feel the flames from as far as I was standing,” said Vega. “I was probably a good 200 yards away. You could feel the heat and once the fire broke the walls on top of the ceiling, it was lights out for that one.”

Vega said the smoke from the fire made it difficult to breathe.

“You could smell the ammonia in the air and the black smoke was just too big when you would be outside,” said Vega.

Vega said his work sent everyone around 10 p.m. on Wednesday night because the smoke became too unbearable.

The fire from the Taylor Farm facility also impacted businesses.

The Taylor farm incident also impacted businesses. The Salinas Valley Truck Stop was closed for the day. A sign was posted out front letting customers know it was closed due to the shelter-in-place and the possible ammonia exposure.

While the barricades are now gone, truck drivers who made deliveries down Abbott Street were forced to wait for several hours, which impacted their deliveries.

“Truck drivers take this route every day,” said Elvin Goesinya, a truck driver from Gilroy. “I have other loads and it's kind of slowing me down.”

Taylor Farms said the destroyed facility had been closed for the winter season and was not producing onsite.

The company said it plans to continue its operations out of its Arizona facility in Yuma.