By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–Investigators are still trying to determine what caused Wednesday night’s blaze at the 501K Recycling Center in Paris.
Paris Fire Marshal Greg Andrews said from the scene this morning that the fire was contained to huge rolls of plastic materials in the parking lot. “With the help of the Forestry Service, we were able to contain it and it didn’t reach any of the buildings,” Andrews said. “The Forestry Service used their bulldozers to cut lanes around and behind, so there was no threat of it spreading to any structures.”
The fire started in the huge rolls of plastic that were stored in the parking area, he said. “It’s still burning and it will continue to do so over the next few days because the rolls are so compressed.”
The investigation continues into what caused the fire. “There are several avenues we’re looking at,” he said.
The Paris Fire Department received the first call on the fire at 6:40 p.m. and received a huge amount of help from the county’s volunteer fire departments, Andrew said. “They shuttled a lot of water for us last night and that was a huge help with this,” he said.
Volunteer Fire Departments providing mutual aid included Mansfield, Oakland, Cottage Grove, Henry, Whitlock, and Springville.
Andrews said firefighters stayed on the scene until 10:36 p.m.
Photo: Oakland VFD hard at work last night. (Oakland Fire Department photo).