Recycling Facility Burns in Kansas City

April 24, 2014

April 24--Firefighters continued to patrol hot spots late Wednesday afternoon after battling a fire that burned much of 7 tons of recyclable materials in Kansas City, Kan.

The blaze prompted more than a dozen fire trucks and vehicles to deploy to the Deffenbaugh Recycling facility in the 2400 block of South 88th Street, near Interstate 435 and the Kansas River.

An open-air structure that housed some of the recyclables was heavily damaged, said Craig Duke, deputy chief of the Kansas City, Kan., Fire Department.

"It was a big, open storage area in which they sorted and separated the recyclables," he said.

A vehicle in a nearby parking lot caught fire, and some trailers had to be moved to safety, Duke said. There were no injuries.

Crews responded to the blaze about 1 p.m. They also fought other small fires started by embers that the wind blew into dry grass nearby, Duke said.

Late Wednesday afternoon, investigators were still looking for clues as to what caused the fire, Duke said.

Brian Burnes, [email protected]

Copyright 2014 - The Kansas City Star

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