‘Massive piles’ of burning materials at Modesto recycler keep crews busy all night
Sparks from a metal bin being dragged across pavement ignited a huge recycling center fire that took crews several hours to knock down Monday night and Tuesday morning.
About 9 p.m., the Modesto Fire Department Engine 19 crew responded to a report of a Dumpster fire at American Recycling Holders on Morgan Road north of East Whitmore Avenue in south Modesto, Deputy Chief Darin Jesberg told The Bee on Tuesday.
When firefighters got there, there was fire inside the recycling yard, so they quickly upgraded the call to a commercial fire, which summoned more units.
It appears the fire started when a worker was dumping a full metal bin and was having a hard time getting some remaining material out, Jesberg said. The worker dragged the bin across concrete, creating sparks, which wind carried into nearby paper or plastic materials that caught fire, he said.
The worker tried to put out the fire with a water hose and a fire extinguisher but was unsuccessful so called 911, Jesberg said.
Firefighting crews quickly escalated the call to a second alarm, then a third, then beyond that, the deputy chief said.
There was a heavy fuel load — “massive piles” of cardboard, plastic and metals — and crews had to overcome some water supply issues, Jesberg said.
Water pressure in the area was low, so the city of Modesto’s utilities department was reached to boost the pressure on the west side of Morgan Road. Water supply on the east side of Morgan Road is from the city of Ceres, and its utilities department could not be reached, Jesberg said.
Most of the additional units called to the scene had tapped into the east side water supply, and its low pressure affected the master stream being aimed at the blaze, he said. Within a couple of hours, units had switched to the west side water supply.
Another challenge was that the metal piles included aluminum and magnesium, and when water hit the latter, there was a lot of sparking and popping, Jesberg said.
Because the wind was driving the smoke up and away, crews at least did not have to wear respiratory equipment, he said.
Within four hours, the fire was contained and not spreading, Jesberg said.
Modesto Fire was assisted at the scene by the Turlock, Stanislaus Consolidated, Westport and Hughson fire departments. Resources from San Joaquin County helped cover Modesto and the other jurisdictions assisting, Jesberg said.
The deputy chief anticipated that crews would be at American Recycling all day Tuesday, working with the facilities crews to make sure the fire is fully out. Front loaders were to be brought in to pull apart the piles of materials.
This story was originally published February 15, 2022 at 9:29 AM.
