Black smoke billowing from a scrapyard fire could be seen for miles across downtown Chattanooga on Thursday afternoon.
The smoke came from a fire at Mill Direct International, a recycling facility near the intersection of Central Avenue and Rossville Boulevard. Firefighters were first alerted to the blaze at 1:43 p.m., and four fire companies responded.
No direct injuries were reported, although one firefighter was taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion. The cause of the fire is unknown, said Bruce Garner, spokesman for the Chattanooga Fire Department.
The blaze was so intense, he said, because much of what was burning involved petroleum-based products like rubber, foam and plastic.
Two cranes stood above the fire with massive “master stream” hoses shooting water down onto the pile of flaming scrap. Garner said the hoses, which are much wider than the usual hand-held ones, push out hundreds of gallons of water every minute.
As firefighters battled the blaze, curious motorists stopped their cars in the middle of Central Avenue to rubberneck. Traffic backed up several times as people snapped pictures on their cellphones, with a line of honking cars growing behind them.
Farrel Grayson and Red Roach were headed south on U.S. Highway 27 through Red Bank when the blaze took off, and they saw the pillar of smoke all the way from north of the Olgiati Bridge.
“We saw it all the way over on 27,” said Roach. “As soon as we topped off [the hill north of the Olgiati Bridge], you could see the smoke coming up.”
Grayson and Roach weren’t planning on stopping in Chattanooga but wanted to see the cause of the smoke they saw.
Determining how the fire started may be challenging because the scene has hundreds of different potential causes. Garner said it took several hours to extinguish the fire. Firefighters used the facility’s giant machinery to pick debris off the pile and wet it down until the entire pile was extinguished.
“See,” he said, as a blue machine with a giant claw was lifting metal off the pile. The smoke had now turned from black to white, and no flames were visible. “That’s what they’re doing right now.”
An investigation will take place to determine what started the fire.
Staff writer Alex Green contributed to this story.
Contact staff writer Evan Hoopfer at ehoopfer@timesfreepress.com or @EvanHoopfer on Twitter or 423-757-6731.