Category Archives: Recycling / Waste Facility

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Niles, MI – Newly repaired sprinkler system subdues fire until crews arrive

If you are a customer of Michiana Recycling and Disposal, trash service will be delayed Tuesday due to an overnight fire at the company’s transfer station. 

The Howard Township Fire say the fire started in a cardboard bin around 12 a.m.

Another employee heard about the fire and called 9-1-1.

When crews arrived on scene, flames and heavy smoke were visible.

Employees said a newly repaired sprinkler system helped to subdue the flames until first responders arrived.

The fire was put out just after 4 a.m.

No injuries were reported.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Salem, VA – Structure fire at landfill mostly extinguished by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Crews have extinguished a structure fire at a landfill in Roanoke County.  The fire, which was determined to have been sparked by a welding operation, was burning at the Smith Gap Regional Landfill, according to Roanoke County Fire & Rescue.  The welding was taking place on a garbage tipper machine when combustible materials ignited in that area, causing a fire in the garbage tipper.  When the first crews arrived, they reported heavy brown smoke coming from the side of the building, according to Jennifer Conley Sexton with Roanoke County Fire & Rescue.  A call for the fire came in shortly after 4 p.m. from staff at the landfill and told dispatchers they evacuated the building.

Crews at the scene marked the fire under control in about 30 minutes, according to Sexton, who also say there were no injuries reported.  The fire department said the facility’s sprinkler system extinguished most of the flames.  Damage estimates are between $5,000-$10,000.  The landfill is owned by the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority.  Firefighters from the Masons Cove, Catawba and Fort Lewis stations responded to the fire.  Fire investigators are now on scene.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Morris, IL – Fire at electronics recycling facility suppressed by sprinkler system

There were no injuries reported Monday afternoon at a fire on Armstrong Street in Morris. Fire crews received a call about a sprinkler activation at 4:34 p.m. at First America Metal, Morris Deputy Chief Bob Wills said. “The sprinkler system did exactly what it was supposed to,” Wills said. The fire began in an area where the facility stores the crushed remains of electronics before being recycled. Wills said it seemed that a battery had gotten into one of the boxes and ignited. About 10,000 pounds of the recyclable material were destroyed, Wills said. Although the fire was contained, the building filled with smoke. A ventilation truck from Lyons had to be called in to help clear the smoke out of the building.

“It’s a very large fan that pressurizes the building,” Wills said, blowing the smoke out. Fire crews from Morris, Minooka, Channahon and Dwight responded to the fire and Lisbon-Seward crews manned the Morris station. Crews were on scene until about 7:15 p.m. The business opened up again Tuesday.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Brockton, MA – Fire at recycling and waste management facility doused by sprinkler system

The sprinkler system at Champion City Recovery did its job early Sunday morning, containing a fire at the transfer station before firefighters arrived. Fire officials responded to the scene at 138 Wilder St. at 2:23 a.m., discovering smoke and fire from a debris pile within the main building. There was minimal damage to the building, and no one was injured. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, fire officials said Sunday afternoon. The sprinkler system was already activated when firefighters arrived at the transfer and recycling station on the city’s north side, containing the fire to the debris (comprised mostly of construction materials). Firefighters used multiple hoses to douse the pile, and a heavy equipment operator from Champion City Recovery helped move the pile around for firefighters. The owner was on scene, the Fire Department said. Champion City Recovery is a rail-served transfer station managing construction and demolition waste. The fire was extinguished before 4 a.m. The city’s Building Department was called to survey any structural damage. The facility also had two fires in 2014: a smoky blaze within the building in June, then an excavator fire in November.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Brampton, ON, Canada – Overnight fire at recycling business limited by sprinkler system

Brampton firefighters were called to a tire recycling business on Bramwin Court for a fire in the early morning hours Wednesday (March 28).  As the first firefighters arrived around 4 a.m., they called for a second alarm. However, firefighters say the building’s sprinkler system worked to their advantage and helped contain the flames.  There were no reports of injuries. The area remained closed during the morning rush hour as crews cleaned up at the scene.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Rockland Key, FL – Early morning fire at waste management facility controlled by sprinkler system

Monroe County Fire Rescue responded at 3:17 a.m. Thursday to a fire inside the City of Key West’s transfer station at 125 Toppino Industrial Drive on Rockland Key. The fire was put out just after 5 a.m. with no injuries. Here’s what happened: Crews from Stock Island, Cudjoe Key and Big Coppitt Key arrived to find heavy smoke inside the building that made it impossible to enter immediately. After using fans to push some of the smoke out of the building, crews were able to go inside and assess that the fire was in the middle of a large household trash pile.

At the transfer station, waste is separated into household trash, recycling and yard waste. “It was an exothermic reaction that caused the fire,” said Monroe County’s Deputy Fire Marshall Craig Marston, who is investigating the incident. “Chemicals mixed with the regular trash.”

An automated sprinkler system operated to keep the fire from spreading, Marston said. Crews used a large front-end loader to separate the household trash that was not burning from the fire that was deep inside the large building. Then firefighters were able to extinguished the smoldering flames.

Officials from Waste Management were on scene to help limit the damage. At the time of the fire, there were six bulk haulers in line to haul out debris to the mainland and another eight route trucks in line to bring trash to the transfer station. The fire caused only a three-hour delay in the process. Marston said this fire is a good reminder to residents on why it is important to separate household chemicals from your regular trash.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Duncan, OK – Sprinkler system assists firefighters in controlling potentially dangerous blaze at waste facility

A small fire broke out at approximately 7 p.m. Wednesday at Waste Connections, apparently caused by a chemical reaction in a pile of trash workers had recently dumped at the site. Duncan Fire Chief Dayton Burnside said Oakridge Volunteer Fire Department (OVFD) was first on the scene and reacted quickly to extinguish the flaming trash heap. “They were first on scene, we just got a call to help them with a fire in Waste Connections’ main building,” Burnside said. “[The fire] was in the trash piles — it was all compacted up, the structure was saved but all [of] the contents of the pile was gone, it was put out in about 45 minutes.”

According to Jeff Bruehl, an officer for OVFD, firefighters weren’t alerted to the blaze in the traditional way with a call — in fact, they saw the flames themselves. “— We actually never got the call, we called them, we saw smoke coming from the building because we were next door working on a fire truck,” said Bruehl. “Then, somewhere in between that time and when we got there, two or three other people had called. When we got there, [the fire] was just in the transfer station — they had dumped, looked like a pile of mattresses and bedding and — it was burning in that section. — The sprinkler system activated about the same time we got there and was helping us put it out.”

Bruehl said though the exact cause of the blaze hasn’t been determined, it’s likely that the fire was caused by a chemical reaction or some sort of discarded material that shouldn’t have been thrown in a dumpster to begin with.

“Most likely, it was discarded either when they loaded it or unloaded it, [it could be] friction or a chemical reaction, some kind of chemicals in it. I mean, it’s trash, so it’s kind of hard to pinpoint it. We looked at all of the different items in the trash, but we couldn’t find any particular items. It could have been anything from a cigarette discarded to a chemical reaction from something.”

Minimal damage was caused by the fire, according to Bruehl, and no equipment was harmed, but Bruehl did have some tips for the community about what should and shouldn’t be thrown into a trash receptacle. Advice he hopes can help prevent fires like these from happening in the future.

“— Be careful what you throw away, no chemicals — are supposed to be put in the trash dumpsters,” he said. “—It can cause chemical reactions. Paint thinner, oil, bleach even. — A lot of people don’t know it, but [a] bleach and motor oil combination can, it takes an hour or two, it gets hotter and hotter and then bursts into flames if they get mixed together. — An empty bleach bottle still has some residue in it and the right combinations, temperature and the wind — can set off a chemical reaction.”

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Royal Oak, MI – Sprinkler system helps minimize fire damage at recycling center

Firefighters extinguished a blaze at Royal Oak Recycling after officials say a fire broke out there Wednesday afternoon and workers were evacuated.

Royal Oak firefighters were called to the recycling facility about 12:50 p.m.

“They had a fire inside one of the machines,” said Fire Chief Dave Cummins. “It doesn’t look as though there was any structural damage from the fire.”

Cummins said firefighters were screening workers at the facility at 414 E. Hudson to see whether any of them needed to be taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation they may have suffered while they were in the building.

Other than possible smoke inhalation there were no reported injuries.

The fire reportedly broke out on a conveyor machine at the recycling plant.

Though smoke spread and a sprinkler system about the machine was activated, Cummins said it was a relatively small fire.

“We’ve had similar fires at the building in the past,” he said.

Less than a year ago, about 20 people at Royal Oak Recycling were evacuated and the plant closed for the day after a machine caught fire in November 2016. No one was injured.

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Moraine, OH – Sprinkler system keeps fire in check at garbage hub transfer station

The garbage hub for Montgomery County is back in business after being shut down much of Thursday from a trash fire believed to have been caused by recently dumped, smoldering materials.

The county’s Solid Waste Transfer Station on Sandridge Drive reopened to both commercial and public customers by mid-afternoon, about 10 hours after fire crews responded the Moraine site near I-75.

“Our operations are getting back to normal,” county Environmental Services Communications Coordinator announced in a statement. “We will be open for regular business hours the rest of the week.”

Crews responded to the fire at the facility shortly before 5 a.m. Thursday, forcing employees and haulers off site, and the postponement of the start of a free, three-day appliance disposal program, which will begin Friday.

No injuries were reported and the blaze was put out by early afternoon, a county official said.

Thursday afternoon there was no dollar value estimate of the damage. But it was limited to some offices and the tipping floor where garbage is deposited after haulers make their pick-ups from customers throughout the county, Moraine Fire Chief David Cooper said.

“It’s a big building. There’s not much to burn other than the trash that’s in there,” he said.

Cooper said a definite cause had not been determined. However, it’s not uncommon for trash fires to flare up after haulers empty loads that can contain smoldering material, he said.

“And basically what happens is a fire starts down deep inside of it and it kind of snakes through,” Cooper added. “So you have to just dig it out and keep applying water.”

Moraine fire personnel were on the scene for more than seven hours, aided by crews from Dayton, Kettering and the Miami Valley Fire District, Cooper said.

The transfer station was not staffed overnight, he said, allowing the fire to get “a pretty good head start” before crews arrived. Yet he noted the “sprinkler system actually held it in check” for “quite some time until we got there.”

Crews used back hoes to separate the trash while using some 30,000 gallons of water to extinguish the flames, Cooper said.

“You almost have to move every bit of trash that’s on that floor,” he said. “So we just have to move it from one side to the other and we spray it down.”

While the transfer station was closed because of the fire, county employees were diverted to alternative work sites, and haulers were directed to dump their loads at landfills, Wooten said.

The blaze also set back the start of the Appliance Amnesty program. The appliance disposal program – free to county residents – is a twice-a-year opportunity for people to unload large, unwanted household items.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Victoria, BC, Canada – Fire at cardboard recycling plant contained by sprinkler system

Victoria Fire Department crews kept a fire at a plant filled with cardboard to be recycled from spreading Tuesday afternoon. Firefighters responded to a structure fire call at Cascades Recovery in the 2800 block of Bridge St., next to the City of Victoria public works yard, just before 1 p.m. and found the fire in a conveyor belt system. The building’s sprinkler system had deployed and was keeping the blaze from spreading, said Mark Robertson, VFD Battalion Chief. Crews made their way in, found the seat of the fire and extinguished it quickly with two-inch hoses, he added.  All occupants of the building were out and safe when fire crews arrived, Robertson said.  With the cause of the fire still under investigation, Robertson was reluctant to say whether it appeared to be mechanical failure or something else.

“You never know what you’re dealing with when you’re at a recycling plant, you don’t know what is coming and going in those cardboard boxes,” he said. In all, 18 crew on three engine trucks, a rescue truck, a ladder truck and a battalion vehicle responded to the call. Oak Bay and Saanich were on standby in case the fire grew larger. No damage estimate was immediately available.