No Ill Effects Expected from Runoff of N.C. Fire

Oct. 27--GREENSBORO -- Fire officials may know more this week about what sparked a fire Friday in a 50-foot high pile of metal and plastic at D.H. Griffin Wrecking.

Deputy Chief Clarence Hunter of the Greensboro Fire Department said Saturday that investigators are still unclear what caused the fire at the scrap yard but hope to know some time this week.

Also, officials on Saturday reported no public health effects from the runoff that came from the up to 1.4 million gallons of water poured on the fire.

Hunter said a D.H. Griffin representative couldn't tell on Friday how much damage was caused by the fire, which took firefighters more than 12 hours to bring under control.

The fire at 4716 Hilltop Road was reported at 8:06 a.m., and Hunter said firefighters were able to get it under control by about 8:30 p.m. One firefighter sprained an ankle battling the fire. No other injuries were reported.

Fire officials said workers were moving light metals around on the pile when the fire erupted.

Firefighters poured 2,000 gallons of water a minute on the fire, tried to smother it with foam and pulled the scrap pile apart to get to the fire that appeared to be deep inside the pile.

That water flowed toward a tributary of South Buffalo Creek, a situation that Greensboro's water resources department is monitoring for acidity and levels of dissolved metals and dissolved oxygen.

Fire Battalion Chief Jim Robinson said Saturday that water department staff members visited the area earlier in the day to check the streams around the fire site and reported to him that they found nothing out of the ordinary.

"They're still following up on any runoff issues," Robinson said.

Staff Writer Andre Taylor contributed to this report.

Contact Jonnelle Davis at 373-7080.

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