Oily Rags Cause Fence Fire

Oily rags spontaneously combusted in a plastic trash bin last night on Santa Florita Avenue, causing a small fire that burned a portion of a fence and home, a Millbrae firefighter said.

Firefighters responded at 11:32 p.m. to a report of a structure fire at 507 Santa Florita Ave., said Firefighter Joe Murray. When the fire company arrived, a neighbor had already extinguished the blaze, Murray said.

The fire sparked from a bin of oily rags that were used for staining a deck, he said.

“If they are enclosed in a container and there is enough of them with the right type of solvent or oil…they do ignite on their own,” Murray said.

A six-foot section of the fence burned along with the side of the house underneath the eaves, he said. The residents were home but no one was injured.

Murray estimated that the fire caused between $5,000 and $8,000 in damage.