Ohio scrap yard catches fire

Firefighters worked for going on 72 hours to extinguish a large fire at Columbus Auto Shredding, a scrap yard on Alum Creek Drive in southeast Columbus, Ohio.

The fire began shortly after midnight Friday morning and was extinguished Sunday evening, according to WBNS. Fire crews had a difficult time putting out the blaze, says Battalion Chief Jeffrey Geitter, because the fire continued to flare back up

Columbus Auto Shredding provides salvage and recycling services for cars, trucks, vans, farm equipment and all types of scrap iron, steel and sheet metal.

Columbus Division of Fire Battalion Chief Jeff Geitter told the Columbus Dispatch he suspected the fire originated in a 40- to 50-foot-tall pile of recycled material, and that the size of the fire made it difficult to extinguish because water could not reach the flames deep inside the mound of material.

The burning material included plastic and fabric from vehicle interiors, metal scrap and potentially some residue from fluid inside cars, Geitter says, adding that the business strips and shreds vehicles for parts and that the vehicles in the fire had been drained of oil and gas.

Crews brought in heavy construction equipment to separate the debris and extinguish the flames, according to the Dispatch, working in three to four rotating shifts to prevent heat exhaustion.

Investigators are working to determine what caused the fire, according to news reports, and no injuries were reported.

Calls to Columbus Auto Shredding on Monday went unanswered.