The blimp hangar fire at the shuttered Tustin Marine Corps Air Station is nearing its end, according to local officials, but plans for when the rest of the building will be destroyed are still coming into focus.
Tustin Mayor Austin Lumbard said there are active hotspots still emitting smoke, but, “There’s just not a lot of material left for it to burn.”
Drone flights over the hangar on Thursday did not reveal any heavy smoke, according to an incident report update.
Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Larry Kurtz said the incident management team’s first priority is extinguishing the fire. Kurtz said the metal doors on each side of the hangar are likely to be reinforced to provide safety for firefighters putting out the last of the flames.
Lumbard said the OCFA may remove part of the remaining western-facing wall to help extinguish the fire, and said residents may see activity over the weekend.
“If it’s safe enough to do so, they’re going to try to get in there and get some water on the remaining hotspots,” Lumbard said.
Officials haven’t set a date for when the r
. The demolition’s focus will be removing the hangar’s 120-foot tall metal doors and whatever is left of the western-facing walls, according to an incident report update. As of Friday, nearly all of the massive wooden structure had burned but 30 to 50 feet of the western wall is still standing. The large concrete support columns on each side of the doors will not be immediately removed.
Weekend rain isn’t expected to stop contractor’s work removing reported hangar debris from neighborhoods.
There are still air quality monitors surrounding the hangar, and particulate matter is below any level of concern, as is asbestos sampling, the incident update said. Members of the Orange County congressional delegation sent a letter on Friday to the South Coast Air Quality Management District asking the agency to provide clarification if surrounding areas of the county were…
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