BONNIE ESLINGER
San Jose Mercury News

Firefighters just extinguished a two-alarm blaze at a road material company in an industrial area east of Highway 101 that spewed massive billows of dark smoke into the sky, officials said.


The fire started around 2:22 p.m. at Graniterock Peninsula Road Material at 365 Blomquist, near Seaport Boulevard.

Redwood City Fire Chief Jim Skinner said the blaze started when a 43-ton asphalt tank exploded.

He said one company employee suffered a "slight injury" but did not need to be taken to a hospital.

"I think they were in the vicinity of the tank, and were exposed to the flames," he said.

Air quality inspectors are now conducting tests. "Any smoke has some toxicity, and there was a lot of black smoke," Skinner said.

Bryan Wylie, who works about half a mile away at a medical device company on Galveston Drive, said he and his co-workers felt an earthquake-like jolt and heard a sound like an "explosion."

When he looked out the window he saw smoke rising from the Graniterock plant.

"The building shook a tiny bit. A co-worker asked, 'is that an earthquake?' " he said. "I looked out the window and saw a black smoke cloud."

The city sent out an emergency call through it's automatic phone system to people in the immediate area, said Smith.

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May 2, 2011