Firefighters Contain Massive Blaze At Pennsylvania Recycling Plant
NAZARETH, Pa. (AP) -- A blaze at a recycling plant Tuesday sent massive clouds of black smoke high into the air in eastern Pennsylvania.
The fire began around 4:30 a.m. at Nicos Polymers Group in Plainfield Township, about 55 miles north of Philadelphia. The intense heat and flames caused much of the fabricated steel structure to collapse, and it took firefighters dispatched from several counties more than four hours to contain the blaze.
All 11 workers on duty when the fire broke out escaped the building without injury, according to The Morning Call of Allentown.
The state Department of Environmental Protection was on the scene to monitor air quality and make sure runoff from the water didn't end up in a nearby creek. Bob Mateff, Northampton County director of emergency management services, told The Express-Times of Easton that the plume was not creating a hazard for people in the immediate area.
Firefighters had a tough time getting enough water to fight the fire, supplementing their own tankers with water trucks on loan from a nearby landfill. They managed to keep the flames from threatening a large propane tank.
The fire's cause was unknown.
The building contained plastics products and a large number of boxes and wooden pallets, landlord Jim Knicos told the Easton paper. He said the building was insured.
Knicos sold Nicos Polymers four years ago. The company was in bankruptcy when recycling firm Coll Materials of Zanesville, Ohio, purchased it earlier this year. Coll had intended to close the Plainfield Township plant and transfer 70 jobs to a new facility it is planning to open in Lehigh County.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
