Fire chief: Scrap metal company blaze its sixth in 2 years

[TexasTowelie]

NEW CARLISLE — A scrap metal company will have to shut down at least temporarily after a fire caused heavy damage to parts of the facility Saturday afternoon.

Firefighters responded about 2:40 p.m. to SMS Shredding on Smilax Road, just east of New Carlisle, and found a scrap heap engulfed in flames. Within the first few minutes of the fire, thick black smoke could be seen rising from the site.

At one point, the fire spread from the scrap heap to the actual shredder, destroying a conveyer belt and a control room, said New Carlisle Fire Chief Josh Schweizer. He said it would be impossible for the shredder to run until the damage is repaired, but it was unclear how long that may be.

No one was hurt and crews quickly contained the fire, but firefighters remained on the scene past 6 p.m.

Read more: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/fire-chief-scrap-metal-company-blaze-its-sixth-in-years/article_a6a68fc5-6259-5c44-9355-359f8121f0b8.html

[Tobin S.]

2. I used to work at a scrap yard and I know how things like that can easily happen.

Fire is a hazard of such a business. It will happen to most scrap yards at some point and probably more than once. There is all kinds of work with torches and welders going on. Some very finely shredded metals retain heat and in the warm months large piles of it can spontaneously burst into flame. There are a lot of flammable liquids stored on such sites. It's just a fire waiting to happen.

On edit:

Scrap yards can be dangerous places to work. There is fire, heavy machinery, large trucks, and such. I worked at one for five years and toward the end of my time there two men were killed on the job in separate incidents.