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Stockton Fire Marshal shuts down six pallet businesses over growing fire concerns

The Fire Marshal said all of Stockton's 15 pallet yards were inspected. The non-compliant yards were approached in January with a follow-up letter in June.

STOCKTON, Calif. — One after another, pallet fires have lit up the skies of Stockton. Now, the city is taking action, posting cease-and-desist operations notices on six pallet businesses.

"[The companies] will not be allowed to continue all operations until all fire, building and municipal code violations have been addressed," said Richard Edwards, Stockton Fire Marshal.

Specifically, the city says the non-compliant businesses lack fire access roads. The city also requires them to store pallets within 150 feet of a water supply and develop a site plan that identifies pallet storage areas.

That water supply may be a private hydrant on the property or a street hydrant.

Edwards said all of Stockton's 15 pallet yards were inspected. The non-compliant yards were approached in January with a follow-up letter in June.

"So they're not allowed to intake any more pallets," Edwards said. "They're not allowed to build. They're not allowed to repair new pallets."

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But the yards that were shut down, like New Star Pallets, said they were blindsided and not given enough time to comply. The business says 15 workers are now without jobs.

"I don't own the property. I don't have the fire hydrants," said Mary Dela Rosa of New Star Pallets. "So, today, I thought they would give me more lead time like, yeah they've been telling us what we need to do to be in compliance. But, all of a sudden with no notice today, it was immediately shut down."

Alexander Zavala has been in business for seven years but shut down now.

"They did give us some warnings, but we at least need more time," Zavala said. "We have so many people that's working. We just need the time, little bit more to be able to keep operating so we can let our customers know, as well as our employees to find new jobs."

The city says unless the violations are corrected, the pallet yards will remain closed for good.

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WATCH MORE: 6 Stockton pallet yards ordered to close over alleged safety issues

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