NEWTON (NBC 26) — Less than 24 hours after a large fire broke out at B&B Metals Processing in the town of Meeme, local officials say the blaze has been extinguished and the area made safe, thanks to a massive effort from local first responders.
Clifford Henning is an assistant fire chief in nearby Cleveland. He said the blaze was "one of the largest fires" his department has ever dealt with, and required a massive contingent of first responders from all over the area.
“We had 30 plus departments respond to this fire, 45 pieces of apparatus and close to 100 firefighters," he said.
Henning added that it took about seven hours and 1.5 million gallons of water to extinguish the blaze. He explained that the cause of the blaze hasn't yet been determined, but his department has determined that it was not set intentionally.
According to Cleveland Fire Chief Tony Meyer, no one was injured in the fire and the blaze was contained quickly enough to spare any structures from being damaged, which he expects will allow B&B to resume operations immediately.
“There was no damage to any of the buildings or operation," said Meyer, "it was contained to the actual scrap pile, and so they will be doing the normal processing starting tomorrow again.”
