WastAway burns – Fluff catches fire inside facility
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‘There was a lot of fire when our firefighters first went in,’ said Morrison Fire Chief Mark Parker of the blaze, which started just before noon in the WastAway plant located in the Mountain View Industrial Park at Morrison. ‘There were two main spots but the firefighters were able to knock it down pretty quick so there was just mainly smoke damage to the building.’
Parker said he is unsure what caused the fire, although he said his current suspicion is that it may have been spontaneous combustion inside the plant where household garbage is made into a material called fluff, which can be used for a number of purposes, such as mulch, or molded into building materials. It was the fluff WastAway officials say was on fire and smoldering inside the building.
‘We had to do a lot of overhauling, looking for spots after the fire was knocked down,’ said Parker, noting they wanted to be sure the fire would not rekindle later.
Smoke was pouring from all the ventilation openings in the factory when Morrison firemen arrived, putting out enough smoke that neighboring Yorozu considered temporarily shutting down because its air intakes were taking in the smoke and fumes. Morrison units were backed up minutes later by mutual aid when elements of the McMinnville and Centertown fire departments arrived.
‘Everyone worked together very well, and aside from the temperatures outside, everything went smooth,’ said Parker, noting firefighters used cold towels and plenty of liquids to avoid being overcome by heat on the nearly 100-degree day.
WastAway officials said damage was limited inside the building (which was formerly the Findlay plant) and that production is expected to resume Monday.
The fire is the second blaze at a WastAway facility in the past three years. In May 2004, a fire at WastAway’s former plant in the old Aquatech building on Belmont Drive left around $10,000 worth of damage when the ventilation system there caught fire.