Hollister Recycling Center fire continues to smolder as San Benito takes notice

A fire broke out at the Green Clean Recycling Center last night in Hollister with San Benito County taking notice.

Around 7:30, Hollister fire was on site battling the blaze on San Felipe Road dissipating the large flame. Only smoldering remnants of the fire remain.

Piles of waste and debris comprised of timber and green waste which could spark the fire back to life.

"Now, the pile we expect is going to continue to burn probably for up to a week or longer. The goal there is basically to dissipate all the fuels behind us and reduce the risk to the surrounding business and the surrounding homes," Hollister Fire Interim Fire Chief Rodney Dover said.

Yet, that was not the biggest concern as crews continued their investigaton.

“We noticed there was a lot more than just the green waste recycling. There's a lot of materials that have been disposed of there that probably shouldn't be there," Chief Dover said.

San Benito County posted a comment on Facebook mentioning working with the property owner to fix a number a violations.

San Benito County stated in the comment "It's been a long and ever changing process with the property owner, unfortunately, but we are doing our best to resolve this as quickly as possible."

Public Information Officer Rosemerry Dere spoke on the the different codes violated by the property owner.

“Some of the different violations that we're looking at for this property are obvious health hazards. There's public nuisance and then operating without a permit," Dere said. "Our code enforcement officer has been diligently working with this property owner for at least 18 months."

San Benito County is now looking into a receivership of the recycling center.

Hollister Fire expects the pile of debris to smolder and burn until Friday.