Recycling materials caught fire outside a Chattanooga facility Friday afternoon, sending a haze of smoke over the city's downtown area.
Stacks of cardboard boxes, around 10 to 15 feet high, burned at Westrock Recycling off Market Street near The Howard School, according to a statement the Chattanooga Fire Department posted on social media. By around 5:40 p.m., flames had largely gone down and the cardboard was smouldering.
Crews from the department's Red Shift team responded to the fire around 5 p.m., sending as many as nine trucks. The department reported the fire was under control by 5:36 p.m. Responders from Chattanooga police and Hamilton County EMS were also on scene.
The area is largely industrial with few residents nearby. The smoke, thick and yellowed, caused some walking downtown to cover their faces.
The site is around the corner from Gerdau Metals Recycling, where a fire caused by a cutting torch broke out in the scrapyard in October.
Contact Ellen Gerst at egerst@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6319.
Staff photo by Ellen Gerst / Stacked boxes caught fire at Chattanooga's Westrock recycling facility off Market Street around 5 p.m. on Friday, sending thick smoke into downtown.