Fire extinguished at Montville scrap operation

Montville ― Firefighters here were assisted by firefighters from several surrounding towns on Thursday to fight a smokey fire that burned a large pile of plastic and rubber at a local scrap operation.

The fire was first reported at 6:22 p.m. Firefighters arrived to find smoke coming from a large metal warehouse building at 152 Route 163, owned by DW Transport and Connecticut Scrap.

Montville Fire Marshal Paul Barnes described the business as a shredding operation for vehicle interiors and tires.

Firefighters gained entry into the locked building to find fire in a nearly 10-foot-high pile of plastic and rubber. The town’s four volunteer departments called in aid from surrounding towns to bring water tankers to the site because there are no fire hydrants in the area. Firefighters ended up drawing water from a nearby stream, Barnes said.

Firefighters wore breathing masks while operating tractors to dig into and pull apart the pile of burning debris, which was then hauled outside of the warehouse to be wet down, Barnes said. Firefighters were at the scene for at least four hours.

Barnes said most of the damage to the warehouse building is to the roof above the area where the fire was burning. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Mutual aid came from departments in Salem, Norwich, Preston, Ledyard and the Mohegan Tribe.