Authorities are investigating the cause of a fire that burned 5,000 pallets and recycled wooden material at a Tipton business, causing an estimated $250,000 in damages and forcing the evacuation of five homes for three hours Wednesday.

The fire, at the southwest corner of Avenue 152 and Road 112, was 80 percent contained by Wednesday afternoon.

CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Paul Marquez said the fire, reported at 9:40 a.m., started in a pile of sawdust and jumped to wooden pallets and other materials.

"It spread very quickly," he said.

Bright orange flames and dark black smoke could be seen from miles away at about 10 a.m.

"There were big columns of smoke," said Tom Pierce, a private fire investigator for Bakersfield-based Fire Cause and Analysis, who was in Tipton investigating an unrelated fire.

Pierce used high-powered binoculars to get an extreme up-close look at the raging flames and smoke.

"The black smoke is because of the density of the fuel," he said.

Marquez said the pallets were stacked when the fire started.

The fire happened at E&A Pallets 420 Wesling Road, which is also Road 112. Manager Gilbert Cortez said he was on his way to Los Angeles when he received word of the fire.

Cortez returned to check on the business, which employs five workers and has been in operation for two years.

"Thank God no one was injured," he said.

With flames reaching as high as 80 feet, neighbors were asked to evacuate their homes. They were told to take personal items, but leave quickly.

They took the items to a vacant lot across Wesling.

"We grabbed everything we could," said Annabel Gonzalez. "We took the most important things."

Gonzalez said she helped her aunt evacuated her home. Several family members showed up to help with the hasty evacuation.

Tools, photos and other property were scattered on the empty lot.

Gonzalez said she didn't mind the evacuation.

"As long as [my family members] are safe, that's all that matters," she said. "It's scary."

Jasmine Sierra and Erendira Picazo were also asked to evacuate. Flames came within feet of their backyard when a hay stack caught on fire.

"I thought my home was on fire," she said.

But the flames stopped at the hay stack.

Sierra and Picazo filled a sports-utility vehicle with clothing and other personal items and also drove to the empty lot, where they waited while firefighters battled the flames.

The families returned to their homes at about noon. Some were in the yards, watching the firefighters' effort.

Personnel from the Tulare County Fire Department, CAL FIRE and Orange Cove Fire Protection District, a total of 45 firefighters, staffed 13 engines and water tenders in responding to the fire.

As part of the response, two 18-member hand crews, usually used to fight wild land fires, were called to the scene.

Marquez said the hand crews provided mobility to the firefighting effort.

"We needed the extra staff," he said.