Category Archives: Recycling / Waste Facility

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Kent, WA – Fire held in check at paper recycling plant by fire sprinkler system

An automatic sprinkler system activated and held a fire in check Thursday morning at a Kent paper and cardboard recycling plant.

At 8:32 a.m. employees at IP Recycling, 1225 Sixth Ave. N., noticed fire in a paper bailer and immediately began to soak down the machine, according to a Puget Sound Fire news release.

As the fire grew, the automatic sprinkler system activated and held the fire in check. With the smoke growing in the warehouse the employees called 911 and evacuated the structure.

Puget Sound Engine 71 arrived to find smoke coming out of the main roll up door and so pulled hose lines and began to extinguish the fire. Puget Sound Ladder 74 went to the roof to make sure there was no damage above the fire.

Tukwila Fire and other Puget Sound units arrived but were not needed as the fire was out and contained to the bailer area.

The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Battle Creek, MI – Sprinkler system keeps fire at recycling plant from spreading; No injuries reported

Nobody was injured in a fire at a recycling plant in Battle Creek this morning.

The Battle Creek Fire Department responded at 4:35 a.m. Friday, May 24, to ReConserve of Michigan, located at 170 Angell St. Firefighters arriving at the site found a large pile of recycled material burning, according to a news release from the department.

Heat from the recycling process likely ignited other recycled materials, the release said.

The building’s sprinkler system kept the fire from spreading. When firefighters arrived, they were able to extinguish the burning material, the release said.

The extent of the damage was minimal, according to the fire department.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Perris, CA – Fire at plastics recycling plant dampened by sprinkler system

A fire erupted on Monday, April 8 inside a plastics recycling plant in Perris, causing damage to the interior and roof before it was contained. The non-injury blaze was reported about 11:45 a.m. at Global Plastics on Malbert Street, near Goetz Road, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.

Multiple engine crews were sent to the location, where automated sprinkler systems activated inside the structure, helping dampen the flames by the time firefighters arrived, according to reports from the scene. The building was safely evacuated. A battalion chief said the fire extended from the workspace to the rooftop, but the blaze was completely contained by 12:15 p.m. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Kamloops, BC, Canada – Sprinkler system activated for fire at recycling center

Fire investigators have been unable to determine what caused a fire at the Emterra recycling centre in Valleyview on Tuesday.

Kamloops firefighters were called at about 4:15 p.m. when a pile of cardboard went up in flames behind the Kelly Douglas Road facility.

Investigators know the fire started outside, at the building’s west end, but have been unable to figure out what sparked the blaze, said Kamloops Fire Rescue platoon Capt. Darryl Cooper.

“Talking to Emterra employees, sometimes they will get a lot of mixed recyclables that shouldn’t be in there — chemicals or steel or whatever that [can] cause a chain reaction, but the official cause is undetermined,” Cooper said.

He said fire investigators are typically able to trace the blaze back to a point of origin, but that hasn’t been possible in this case as the fire was spread over a large area containing a lot of debris.

Cooper said the fire started in a large pile of cardboard and led to an active rubber conveyor belt catching fire, which carried some of the fire inside the building.

Those flames were met by the building’s sprinkler system.

“We sent crews in to check for extension, but everything was good,” Cooper said.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Janesville, WI – Fire a recycling facility controlled by sprinkler system while firefighters battle challenging blaze

Firefighters were waiting out a smoldering fire at a Janesville recycling facility Tuesday night because heavy bundles of cardboard blocked their access to the flames. At about 3:33 p.m. Tuesday, Janesville firefighters were called to the Waste Management Recycle America-Janesville Recycling Center, 340 Black Bridge Road. Employees were evacuated from the scene, and fire departments from Edgerton, Milton, Beloit, town of Beloit, Evansville and Footville were called in to assist.

Black Bridge Road was blocked off from North Parker Drive to Mayfair Road starting at 4:45 p.m. At 5 p.m., white smoke could be seen billowing out of the garage in front of the building and from openings on its west side. At 9:30 p.m., firefighters were still on scene, and Janesville Fire Department Battalion Chief Ron Bomkamp predicted they could be there for a while.

Firefighters were having trouble getting to the “seat of the fire” because it was surrounded by heavy bundles of cardboard. The cardboard bales weighed several hundred pounds each and couldn’t be moved easily, Bomkamp said. The sprinkler system was keeping the fire under control while firefighters tried to get to it, Bomkamp said.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Waterloo, IA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at plastic recycling business

Firefighters extinguished a fire at a Waterloo plastic recycling business and vented smoke from the building Tuesday night.

About 25 people were working at Green Line Polymers, 300 Ansborough Ave., when the fire broke out in a bale of plastics around 5:55 p.m.

The business was evacuated, and the building’s sprinkler system held the fire in check until Waterloo firefighters arrived and finished it off.

No injuries were reported.

Other-Government/Military, Recycling / Waste Facility

Redding, CA – Fire at solid waste facility extinguished with help from sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Redding firefighters went to the city’s solid waste facility Saturday morning to extinguish a fire that was traced to some sort of hazardous material someone had recently dumped.  A city of Redding employee was operating a dump loader that came into contact with the “unknown material” that someone had recently dropped off, the fire department said.  The fire quickly grew in the pile of garage and the city’s airport rescue firefighting equipment was called in to spray foam on the blaze.  The fire activated the facility’s sprinkler system so an overhead water nozzle also helped crews. Four engines, a ladder truck and 17 firefighters responded.  No one was injured and firefighters spent two-and-a-half hours at the scene.  The fire department offered this safety message: “To prevent accidental fire through the reactions of chemicals, please discern the difference when dumping solid household waste as compared to hazardous materials.“

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Danville, IL – Sprinkler system keeps machinery fire at recycling facility from spreading

A machinery error started a fire in a recycling business Thursday night, firefighters say.

They say they found smoke pouring from Mervis Recycling, located at 14 S. Henning Road in Danville, after 8:30 p.m. Finding the exact fire proved difficult because of the smoke.

Crews say the call came in as a sprinkler system alarm. That system kept the fire from spreading.

Firefighters remained on the scene until after midnight.

The fire caused about $15,000 in damage. Firefighters say they can’t give an exact cause of the fire because the machinery responsible is too advanced.

Other - Manufacturing, Recycling / Waste Facility

Fountain Inn, SC – Sprinkler systems keep fire outside plastics business from spreading into structures

Dispatchers said the fire was reported at Ameri-Pak at 477 S. Woods Drive before noon last Tuesday.   The fire burned an area between buildings, but the side of several buildings was singed.

Fire Chief Ronnie Myers said the fire burned mostly outside where the business takes in scrap plastics.  The fire was out within a few hours, but crews were still monitoring hot spots late Tuesday afternoon.  Officials said the sprinkler system went off in both buildings, which helped to contain most of the fire outside.  Several fire departments including Oconee, Pickens, Anderson, Greenville, Spartanburg and Laurens assisted, Myers said.

“Once you get plastic burning, it’s very hot. It gets so hot, you can’t put it out with just water. You have to put foam on it to smother the fire. It was a very intense fire,” Fire Chief Ronnie Myers said.  Ameri-Pak is a packaging company. Its website says that the company services manufacturers including 3M, Sealed Air, Tape Logic, Rubbermaid and Ivex.

Other Business, Recycling / Waste Facility

Springfield, OR – Fire at recycling facility contained by sprinkler system; No injuries reported

Employees evacuated as sprinklers and firefighters extinguished a fire in the recycling facility at International Paper in Springfield on Tuesday morning.

Fire crews responded to the 48th Street facility at 7:48 a.m.

“Crews arrived to find all employees safely evacuated outside and the building filled with smoke. Employees reported fire in a pile of general recyclable materials. The building is protected by an automatic fire sprinkler system. The sprinkler system activated keeping the fire in check until fire crews arrived to complete extinguishment and over haul.”

A Eugene-Springfield Fire Department official said firefighters initially sounded a second-alarm fire and that all available crews headed to the scene.

Officials say it appeared a second alarm was called because of a large amount of smoke in the recycling portion of the plant.

Quick response by fire crews, along with the sprinkler system in place, took care of the fire before it had a chance to grow, according to the fire department.

No injuries were reported and workers will be allowed to return before the day is over.

The cause has been deemed accidental.