PHOTOS: Fire at Cedar Rapids metal recycler

A smoky fire at a metal recycling business created a real dilemma for Cedar Rapids firefighters on Friday.

The fire broke out at about 9:30 a.m. at Alter Metal Recycling, 6305 11

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St. S.W. in Cedar Rapids. And the dilemma involved firefighters needing to dig for hours amid the burning metal scrap to get at the source of the flames.  It was a job that took more than six hours.

The smoke from the fire that shot into the air created a black plume visible for miles in any direction.  Two customers bringing in a load of metal scrap got a real close look.  Just as they pulled onto the scale to weigh the load, workers told them to “move it” to make way for the fire trucks.

One customer, Mitch Fountain, said he overheard some of the workers talking about what might have happened.  “Yeah, some of the guys said antifreeze, oil was in there and it must have got hot,” Fountain said.  Friend Davis Kavish added, “they (employees) were kind of in a panic trying to get people out of the way-but everyone moved pretty well and stuff.”

The first fire crews on the scene found the fire in a pile of scrap measuring at least 50 yards long and perhaps 25 feet high.  At first, recycling workers thought a crane nearby had caught fire.  But they realized it was the pile of old appliances, vehicles and every other bit of scrap.

Greg Buelow, a fire department spokesman, said “there's popping noise right now-that's the tires on the vehicles as well as the empty gas tanks.  There's residual in there yet.”

Firefighters say it was a good thing the crane in the scrap yard wasn't involved in the fire.  That meant employees could use it to move the mass of metal and allow firefighters to get water on the hot spots.

There was some concern about the thick black cloud of smoke.  But the cloud drafted away from most of the occupied areas on the group.  Linn County Public Health put air monitors around the site but didn't detect any immediate threat or feel the need to order any evacuations.

As to a cause, firefighters say they may never know.  The fire apparently started in a section containing appliances.  But the fire burned everything so thoroughly any sign of what started it may have burned up.  Spokesman Buelow said it may go down as an accidental fire of undetermined origin.

Alter Metal Recycling started in business about 100 years ago and occupied a site near I-380 and downtown Cedar Rapids for many years.  The company moved to the 11

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Street Southwest location in 2003.  Neighbors say this is the first significant fire they can remember at the company's newer location.

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Video by Adam Jelinek and Becky Ogann:

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