North Carolina waste, recycling center experiences fire damages

North Davidson Garbage Service and Recycling Center based in Lexington, North Carolina, experienced a fire Friday, Aug. 30, according to a report by the Winston-Salem Journal newspaper. The report says the fire caused more than $6 million in damage.

According to the report, 17 area fire departments responded to the fire, which started at about 6:45 p.m. after employees left the 54,000-square-foot facility for the day. The report says a passerby noticed the fire at 7 p.m. and alerted the authorities. Firefighters worked to put out hot spots and smaller fires on more than 80 tons of recyclable materials until Saturday, Sept. 1. 

Brad Everhart, co-owner of North Davidson Garbage Service and Recycling Center, told the Winston-Salem Journal he left the facility at 6:15 p.m. Aug. 30, about half an hour before the fire started. 

“We’ve had an unfortunate incident at our processing facility that we operate all of our operations out of except for our office,” Everhart says in a video release he posted to the company’s Facebook page on Sept. 1. “All of our trucks except for a few are in tact, so business as usual on Monday. We will be at your curbside the way we always have since 1972. We just had an incredible overwhelming tragedy of events here, but no one was hurt. We’re going to be fine. A lot of people won’t have jobs for a bit, but we’re going to find something for them to get through the best we can. We’re going to get through it, keep people working and do our best.”

North Davidson Garbage Service and Recycling Center is a family-run business that started in 1972. The Winston-Salem Journal report says Brad Everhart and Brooke Everhart took over the business in 2015.