Last night, a fire erupted at a recycling plant on Kansas Street in South Memphis, requiring intervention by local fire crews and causing significant damage. According to Action News 5, the Memphis Fire Department x
responded to a call at 11:24 p.m. at Plastic Products Manufacturing, also known as Eco Cycle, at 998 Kansas Street. Upon arrival, firefighters discovered the origin of the fire in the rear interior of the building, closely associated with a baler machine.
The situation was dire enough to draw attention from both the fire and police departments. Eyewitness accounts provided a vivid glimpse into the chaos. "They were trying to get their cars. I was telling them, don’t do that, wait until the fire department gets here. They literally ran in there and got their cars about to hit each other, getting out. It was a miracle they made it out. But whoever lost their car, I feel sorry for them," Donteveius M. Clay, a bystander, told WREG. This account describes the panic as people rushed to retrieve vehicles from a nearby Hershey Factory employee parking lot, where one vehicle was reportedly exposed to the fire.
As the Memphis Fire Department dealt with the situation throughout the early hours, they turned their focus to investigation and assessment post-extinguishment. The blaze inflicted approximately $498,000 in structural and vehicle damage, in addition to a $390,000 loss in contents, according to reports from an MFD spokesperson relayed by Local Memphis. Thankfully, there were no civilian or firefighter injuries reported from the incident.
