The St. Cloud Fire department needed about two hours to extinguish a scrap yard fire at a recycling business that sent heavy black smoke billowing over East Side neighborhoods Tuesday night.
Crews were called to the Northern Metal Recycling site at 119 Sixth Ave. NE at 6:08 p.m. to put out the blaze among 50 stacked vehicles waiting to be processed for recycling, acting Battalion Chief Jim Bleichner said. The vehicles were stacked four high and four long in about four rows, according to Bleichner.
Bleichner said the cause of the fire is under investigation. He confirmed there were no injuries or building structure damage. Adjacent neighborhoods were not evacuated.
"The biggest problem with this incident was the size of the pile, and to get close to it was a personal danger," Bleichner said. "Because it was a scrap yard, we were not going to risk lives."
Northern Metal Recycling workers assisted crews by using its own equipment -- a front-end loader and two cranes -- to disassemble the vehicle stacks so crews could move in closer to the fire. The business accepts salvaged automobiles, drained and punched gas tanks, drilled and cleaned compressed gas cylinders and oxygen bottles, and processed appliances, according to its website.
The fire was under control within 30 minutes after crews arrived on scene.
The smoke was visible across St. Cloud, and Bleichner said the amount of smoke associated with the fire was not abnormal. He said it is common for one-car fires to produce significant smoke when plastic, rubber and petroleum burns.
East St. Germain Street and Lincoln Avenue were closed by St. Cloud Police for the safety of the firefighters and the public, Bleichner said. The roads and other sidewalks in the area were reopened at 8:35 p.m.
The Waite Park fire department was called for assistance to staff the St. Cloud station during the fire.
Copyright 2012 - St. Cloud Times, Minn.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
