Utility Pole Fire Smolders in NW Fresno

Fresno Fire is investigating the cause of a massive fire at a yard that stores utility poles. They have not ruled out arson.

The fire started Thursday just before 4 a.m. Pushing plumes of smoke in the air.

"You can feel the heat when you drive by it. That’s pretty hot. You feel heat way back here," J.C. Howe said.

The poles are stored on a property owned by McFarland Cascade. They are stacked over 20 feet high in dozens of piles around the yard.

Fresno fire poured a thousand gallons of water a minute on the blaze, then decided it was best to let it burn itself out.

"The piles are causing a lot of heat and smoke. Our apparatus can only get so close before we start breaking windshields and peeling paint off our fire engines," Pete Martinez with Fresno fire said.

Many support the decision to save water considering the drought.

Fresno Fire says the poles costs around $ 2,000 a piece. With thousands of poles lost in the blaze they are estimating the damage at somewhere between $ 1 and $ 3 million dollars.

Firefighters say the blaze grew quickly because there are no fire hydrants on the property. They had to tear down a fence on an adjacent property and drag 2,000 feet of fire hose to get to the flames.

"That delayed the fire attack. While we were establishing a water supply the fire continued to grow," Martinez said.

Fresno Fire remains at the scene monitoring the fire, waiting for it to burn itself out.