COLUMBUS, Ohio – Firefighters were expected to remain at the scene of a massive South Side blaze for one or two more days, working to completely extinguish the fire, which sent thick smoke billowing into the skies Friday and forced nearby residents to remain indoors with their windows closed as a precaution against breathing in harmful fumes.
Investigators will return to the scene to begin determining the cause of the blaze that damaged roughly 20,000 square-feet of the Phoenix Recycling Inc., 611 Marion Road, a pallet recycling facility, Battalion Chief Tracy Smith said.
About a half dozen Columbus Division of Fire trucks remained on the scene at where fire broke out at approximately 4:00 p.m. and was quickly upgraded to a four-alarm fire, Smith said.
“A total of 52 fire apparatus were used to get the blaze under control from multiple jurisdictions. Today, it is still an active fire, and we are expected to be on the scene at least another 24-hours,” she said Saturday.
About 100 people were working at the facility when the fire started.
The fire produced a large black mushroom cloud visible from downtown Columbus and spreading miles to the southeast. The smoke was not believed to be toxic, however, and no injuries have been reported.
Some roads were closed in the area, anapproximately of 20,000 nearby residents were without power, Smith said.
One-third to one-half of the city’s firefighters battled the blaze with assistance from the Franklin and Hamilton township fire departments assisted on the blaze, Smith said.
Fifteen fire trucks threw up to 1,000 gallons of water per minute each for over 10 hours during the initial incident, said Smith.