EVERETT, Mass. (AP) — A fire at a metal recycling facility in a Boston suburb sent a plume of dark gray smoke over the city on Wednesday morning and prompted a hazardous materials team to respond.
The fire at the Schnitzer Northeast facility in Everett was reportedly in a building that houses a large shredder used to shred whole cars, the state Department of Environmental Protection said in a statement.
The hazmat response was level 1, the least severe of five hazmat responses.
The agency is collecting air samples in downwind locations affected by the smoke plume and those samples will be analyzed for potentially dangerous compounds.
“We have not received any reports of releases of oil or hazardous materials at the fire scene, so the primary concern at this time is the smoke," the agency said.
“All floors of building fully involved," the Everett firefighters union said in a tweet shortly after the fire was reported, followed by a second tweet that said: “everyone out of building and accounted for.”
“We have no reported injuries from the incident. We are working closely with the fire department to bring this situation to a safe conclusion,” Schnitzer spokesperson Eric Potashner said in an email.
Firefighters from several surrounding communities also responded to the scene.
The fire was not far from the Encore Boston Harbor casino in Everett.
