Twenty tons of paper goes up in smoke before crews contain recycling center fire

Fire burned about 20 tons of paper product Monday afternoon in San Jose, fire officials said.

Firefighters responded at 1:56 p.m. to Greif, a commercial recycling company, at 388 E. Alma Ave.

Fire Capt. Brian Palodichuk said a couple of pallets of product started to burn leading to an estimated 20 tons that had to be extinguished and moved around.

Thousands and thousands of gallons of water were needed to put out the fire, tying up fire department resources for a while Monday afternoon, Palodichuk said.

No one was injured and the cause is undetermined. Nothing else was damaged. The pallets were outside in a storage yard.

Palodichuk said it’s not uncommon for fires like this to start at recycling centers. Fire officials do not believe the fire was arson.