CATONSVILLE, Md. (AP) - Debris continued to smolder Tuesday
after a four-alarm fire at a paper manufacturing and recycling
business.
More than 150 emergency workers from Baltimore and Howard
counties responded Monday to the blaze at Simkins Industries, which
was reported about 8:40 p.m. in a building used for paper
recycling.
Firefighters found flames shooting through the roof. They
brought the blaze under control about four hours later.
No one was injured.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Firefighters continued looking Tuesday for hot spots and doused
stacks of paper with water to prevent the fire from rekindling,
said Elise Armacost, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore County Fire
Department.
The fire destroyed the recycling building, but other parts of
the complex were not affected, Armacost said. The fire department
did not yet have a dollar estimate on the damage.
Firefighters had difficulty bringing water to the scene. After
emptying their engines of water, they began shuttling water from a
main on Frederick Road and from the Patapsco River.
Simkins officials worked Tuesday to try to restore power to
their fire pumps and water pressure to a portion of a private
hydrant system, Armacost said.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)