Fire causes damage at Pacific Steel & Recycling site

A fire at Great Falls, Montana-based Pacific Steel & Recycling’s scrap yard in Lockwood, Montana, likely caused about $1 million in damages, according to a news release posted in Montana’s Billings Gazette newspaper. Employees reported that they suspect metal being shredded in the building caught fire and traveled onto the conveyor belt into another building intended for sorting shredded metals.

According to the newspaper, the fire occurred in a building that makes up part of the company’s shredding operation. That particular shredder was reported to be the first automobile shredder installed in Montana back in 2012, the Billings Gazette reports.

The Billings Gazette reports that “a lack of water available on-site to fight the fire” made the incident tougher for firefighters responding to the blaze, as the only hydrant at the facility relied on a tank in the ground that was depleted in about five minutes. Six additional tender trucks shuttled in water from other charging hydrants throughout the incident. 

Pacific Steel & Recycling reports that no one was injured as a result of the incident. A representative from the company reports that its shredder was able to resume normal operations as of Nov. 6.