Early Wednesday morning, Detroit firefighters were called to tackle a large blaze at a scrapyard located in Southwest Detroit. The ferocious fire began around 3 a.m. at Ferrous Processing & Trading Co. on Lonyo near Dix, as reported by WXYZ. The Detroit Fire Department swiftly responded to the incident, with crews working throughout the morning to bring the fire under control.
Despite the drama of the early hours, the smoke that once billowed above the city transformed, changing colors from a heavy grey to a less ominous white. Following the incident, there were concerns about the air quality in the surrounding area, but a HAZMAT team swiftly swept in to clear any fears. "We just test for hazardous materials and there was no evidence of hazardous materials in the air," Detroit Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Daniel Clapp said in a statement obtained by WXYZ.
The scrapyard in question is part of the larger network of Ferrous Processing & Trading Co., a known local scrap processor with locations around the country. Witnesses to the spectacle, including WXYZ's Brittany Toolis, reported hearing popping noises and smelling the acrid scent of burnt rubber and trash. Efforts to quench the blaze were complicated by the stacked debris which, according to Detroit Fire Department officials, concealed numerous voids and made direct water application challenging.
Working alongside the firefighters, a scrapyard employee maneuvered a giant crane to shift debris, enabling firefighters to more effectively douse the flames. "The fire was fully engulfed within the scrap yard, as you can imagine quite a few voids within those scrap yards, which does not allow for direct water put water on directly, so it took a little time to get it under control," Clapp spoke during the controlled chaos, as told by WXYZ.
At the moment, the cause of the fire remains an enigma. The scrapyard contained a miscellany of materials, including everyday appliances and a pile of batteries that may have contributed to the inferno, according to the reports by both FOX 2 and Firehouse. Detroit Fire Department's spokeswoman Corey McIsaac asserted that the operation to fully extinguish the fire involved collaboration with the company to manipulate heavy machinery. No injuries have been reported in relation to the scrapyard fire as firefighting crews remain vigilant on-site, extinguishing the last vestiges of the morning's blaze.
