Malfunctioning Fire Retardant Sprayer Blamed For Colorado Blaze
GREELEY, Colo --
A two-alarm fire broke out at a Greeley recycling plant at daybreak Tuesday, but it was quickly brought under control by firefighters.
The first report of a fire at Northern Colorado Recycling, 1616 N. 11th Ave., came in about 5 a.m. When firefighters arrived, flames were shooting from the roof of the 7,000-square-foot metal building used to process paper.
The Union Colony Fire Department knocked the fire down and by 6 a.m.
According to fire investigators, the cause of the fire was accidental and was sparked by a malfunctioning fire retardant spray applicator. The applicator sprays bundles of paper with fire retardant but creates high levels of heat which can cause some bundles to smolder.
A statement from the fire department said, "During the companys operations on Monday, workers had noticed that the flame retardant sprayer wasn't working. They had realized that a number a paper bales had been assembled without flame retardant being applied. They loaded what they had believed to be all the bales into a truck and transported them to a rural field to be dispersed and wetted. At least one of the untreated bales, which contained smoldering material, had been left in the facility and a fire broke out during the night."
Damage to the building, equipment and lost product was estimated at $890,000.
There were no injuries as a result of the fire.