Escondido Fire: Abandoned Meat Market Burns, Sending Smoke Across Wide Area [Photos, Video]

Escondido, CA — A four-alarm fire at an abandoned Escondido building that formerly housed a meat market broke out around 9 a.m. Thursday and continued to burn for several hours. Flames engulfed the building, sending a large plume of dark smoke over a wide area and affecting electricity, traffic and public transportation in the area.

Escondido firefighters — joined by crews from at least seven neighboring agencies — remained on the scene of the fire at 559 N. Hale Ave. more than four hours after it erupted.

"The Escondido Fire Department was dispatched at 8:52 a.m. and found the fire had already broken through the roof," Joyce Masterson of the city of Escondido Fire Department said in a statement issued at about 11 a.m. "The four-alarm fire is still active and officials expect to remain on scene for at least another five hours."

Photos and videos posted on Twitter showed a large plume of smoke visible from Interstate 15, where the fire was burning just south of the Highway 78 interchange. A SigAlert was issued for I-15 due to the fire.

An incident commander decided that the extent of the fire made entering the building too dangerous, so the personnel — more than 100 firefighters from across North County San Diego — fought it from the outside only, according to Fire Department Spokesman Jeff Murdock.

Though two transients were feared to be inside the burning structure, police eventually concluded that the pair had gotten out safely, and no injuries were reported.

An Escondido resident said in a Facebook post that the building had been abandoned for a few years and may have been occupied by homeless people.

The blaze continued to burn into the afternoon, despite being drenched by thousands of gallons of water sprayed from hoses atop tall ladders, Murdock said.

Crews had the fire under control by 1:30 p.m., though stubborn smoldering hot spots remained, he said.

The city had advised motorists to avoid the area due to numerous road closures in the vicinity, but by 3 p.m. all streets in the area were open again, with the exception of a stretch of Hale Avenue, Murdock said.

The Sprinter Light Rail was shut down between the Escondido Transit Center and the Nordahl Station, according to Masterson. North County Transit District provided bus services for customers between the two stations.

San Diego Gas and Electric shut down power in the area, which affected businesses on Hale Avenue between Metcalf Street and Auto Park Way and from Hale south to Valley Parkway. Electrical service has since been restored, Murdock said.

Several photos submitted by Patch readers showed the fire was in a building formerly occupied by Talones Meat Market. It was not yet clear whether the fire spread to any neighboring structures.

One person said via Twitter the whole city was blanketed in smoke.

An Escondido resident who lives about a mile from the fire said a large plume of smoke was visible from her home.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, according to Murdock.

10News said via Twitter there was fear the building may collapse.

Jason Dobson, whose office on Metcalf Street is just around the corner from the fire, described the scene as "total chaos," with traffic very congested in the area.

Dobson said he saw fire engine crews from Encinitas, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, Escondido, Valley Center and San Diego (Rancho Bernardo) on scene.

"It's still burning," Dobson said, at 11:12 a.m. "They've got four ladder trucks spraying water from the air that I can see."

At 11:30 a.m., Dobson said, "They're still in defensive mode with five ladder trucks spraying water from the air."

Some of the personnel were expected to remain at the scene overnight, making sure there was no possibility of flare-ups.

It was unclear when fire investigators might be able to get inside the ravaged structure to search for the origin of the blaze and determine the cause, Murdock said.

This is a developing story. Refresh the page for updates as information is added.

[Photos via Soljer Threadz; Twitter users @Bubbalokkom and @Starfleetmom; Dustyn Simpson, Jason Dobson, Elizabeth Rodriguez and Ashley Nemish.]