Crews spent most of Tuesday monitoring hotspots from scrap metal yard fire

TOWN OF PESHTIGO, Wis. (WBAY) - A plume of smoke was visible in the Town of Peshtigo as far as the eye could see.

Viewers in the area captured video on their phones of the smoke coming from the Sal B Scrap Metal Recycling facility which could also be seen across the bay in Door County.

The Town of Peshtigo Fire Chief, Mike Folgert, said crews responded around 3 p.m. Monday.

“Our main objective yesterday was to keep the fire contained to one large pile so that it would not spread to other piles. We have another pile of vehicles right here that’s, I don’t know, 300 foot tall or so. Those vehicles still have intact fuel tanks. They still have intact fluids in them, so we wanted to keep it out of there,” said Folgert.

Apart from a small grass fire, crews were able to contain the fire to one pile of scrap.

It wasn’t an easy fight due to strong winds, but the fire was controlled after nearly twelve hours.

However the work was not over. Several hotspots were found Tuesday morning.

“We’re having the company (Sal B) here work with their excavators, their heavy machinery, to try to pull the pile apart as much as we can to expose those spots. Then we’ll come in later with more of our apparatus and try to put the hose with water if we need to,” said Folgert.

The fire department was in and out of the property monitoring the hotspots.

Folgert called Action 2 News around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday to report there was one hotspot left that was about a 30 foot diameter. He said they’d hope to finish the work before 6 p.m. to beat the bad weather expected, but perhaps the rain would help if it did pour down.

The owners of Sal B did not want to comment, but an employee said they are grateful for the firefighters and first responders. They’re also thankful for one community member who loaned them an excavator.

Folgert said no one was injured in the fire, but has not said what the cause could be.

“We know roughly where it started,” said Folger. “We’ve got a pretty good idea as far as exactly what caused it. I don’t think it was anything intentional here, but you know, we just don’t know exactly at this point.”

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