A fire at Bamboo Giant on Freedom Boulevard early Tuesday afternoon damaged a structure, spread into the neighboring field and closed the road in both directions.
According to CalFire spokesman Tony Akin, the blaze broke out just past noon. Firefighters were met with towering flames inside a hoop house at 5601 Freedom Blvd.
No injuries were reported, and no other structures were damaged, Akin said. It is too early to determine a cause, he added.
A column of thick black smoke could be seen as far away as Watsonville as firefighters ran hose lines along Freedom Boulevard, which remained closed Tuesday afternoon with help from the California Highway Patrol.
Witness Joseph Segura said he was driving to work on Freedom Boulevard when he saw the smoke and flames.
“I knew I had to stop,” he said. “I ran in to the property to make sure no one was trapped or hurt. That’s when I called 911.”
