HOLLAND, Mich. — Fire crews put out a fire at Padnos Iron & Metal Saturday evening after battling flames and smoke for several hours.
The Holland Department of Public Safety Fire Services says crews responded to the fire at the Padnos recycling facility just before 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
When they got to the area of Pine Avenue and W. 6th Street, firefighters found a large fire contained to a large pile of vehicles and other recyclable materials that were being prepared for shredding.
"Those are vehicles that are being recycled. They go into a shredder and they get whatever components are in the vehicles. We also look at, you know, there are not just anything. That's spare steel, there can be insulating materials in there, other items in there, so petrochemicals, those types of things... It's kind of a soup or whatever there," Fire Captain Chris Tinney with the Holland Department of Public Safety explained.
Padnos personnel on scene helped fire crews extinguish the fire; however heavy smoke lingered and the wind blew it out over Lake Macatawa.
Emergency crews told people downwind of the fire to seek shelter in an enclosed building and close all windows and doors until the fire was out completely.
A FOX 17 viewer sent us this picture of smoke from the fire, which was taken while kayaking near Windmill Island:
Padnos personnel also helped separate the fire pile from other recyclables.
Pine Avenue was closed to traffic for several hours until crews cleared the scene and reopened the road around 5 p.m.
Follow up… fire has been extinguished and units are clearing the scene. Pine Avenue is now open. Great work by fire crews and Padnos operators for getting this fire under control and extinguished in short order. pic.twitter.com/OGCV9Go6ZP
— HDPS Fire Services (@HdpsFire) June 3, 2023
Thankfully, no one was hurt.
Investigators are working to figure out what exactly started the fire.
FOX 17 did reach out to a Padnos representative but they did not want to comment on the fire.
