LOWELL - Metal, rubber, oil and antifreeze burned Thursday in a fire at USA Metal Recycling. Employees were draining fuel and oil from a vehicle when the fire started, Lowell Fire Chief Mike Morris said.
“Something they did in the process ignited the fuels,” he said.
The cause was under investigation Friday.
The 911 call came in at 3:45 p.m., and the flames were under control at 4:34 p.m., Morris said. The fire was mostly out by 5:56 p.m.
No one was injured, and the fire was contained within a metal building, Morris said. That building contained two vehicles, one forklift, 20-30 tires and four to six drums partially filled with motor oil and antifreeze. The siding on the outside of the building was burned and melted in places.
“Everything inside was obviously a total loss,” Morris said.
The building is on the northeast part of the plant’s property and next to Darragh, a construction material distributor.
Stephen Tolbert, manager at Darragh, said Thursday that this was the second time the USA Metal building has caught fire.
“It’s never a dull moment with these guys behind us,” Tolbert said.
Tolbert said he heard a few small explosions, then saw black smoke drift over his business. He said it smelled like burned rubber.
Robyn Edwards, office manager at Culligan, said Thursday that she heard an explosion from the plant a few months ago that shook the building. Culligan is an international water treatment products company close to USA Metal.
Morris said the Lowell Fire Department has responded to two fires at the plant in the past couple of years. He didn’t know how many explosions have occurred at the plant.
Eric Schein, Lowell City Council alderman and resident of the Southfork subdivision east of the plant, said he and his neighbors have witnessed fires, explosions, loud noises and pollution in water runoff from the USA Metal plant.
Schein said he wasn’t home Thursday during the fire. However, he was home Jan. 4, 2012, when a propane bottle caused an explosion.
“It was enough that I took cover,” Schein said.
Neighbors complained in 2012 about noise from USA Metal as well as occasional fires and loading railroad cars at night. The company built berms, sound-deadening walls, planted trees and moved equipment to reduce the noise, and the number of complaints dropped.
Eighteen complaints and inspections have been filed with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality against the company since it opened in 2011 at 721 S. Lincoln St. Complaints include concerns about fires, explosions, odor, dust, black smoke, chemicals leaking into groundwater and air quality.
Arkansas, Pages 19 on 12/29/2013