Firefighters extinguish scrapyard fire at Calgary Metal Recycling

Flames and smoke in the Calgary Metal Recycling yard on July 13, 2014

Flames and smoke poured from heaps of scrap metal at the Calgary Metal Recycling Plant on Saturday morning, the second fire to occur at the business in the last two years.

Shortly after 6:00 a.m., fire crews responded to the scrapyard in the 3400 block of Ogden Rd S.E. in the Bonnybrook industial area following reports of dark smoke. Firefighters located a burning pile of scrap metal and quickly extinguished the blaze.

CFD members remained on scene for several hours watching for hotspots and monitoring air quality.

"We have to make sure that that fire's out because it can smolder, it's quite a large pile." explains CFD Batallion Chief John Cherwneniuk. "The object for us is to tear the pile out, a little at a time, check it with our thermal imaging cameras to confirm that the temperature is within a safe range, relocate it to another location, wet it down ,take another load...so, we'll be here for a while."

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

A 2012 fire at the Calgary Metal Recycling Plant burned for nearly two weeks and resulted in 17 charges against the business owner.