Fire departments team up to put out debris fire

Fire departments from all over Laurens County converged on US 1 Recycling on Ga. 199 South to put out a debris fire that started late Wednesday morning.

Around 10:57 a.m. on May 6, the Laurens County Fire Department was dispatched to the business at 1259 Ga. 199 in reference to burning debris that might have been threatening a building on the property, said Laurens County Fire Chief Josh McCard. East Dublin Fire Department was also paged and responded to the location with its tanker trucks.

“After they got on scene, they gave an update of where it was and the limited access of the debris pile,” McCard said.

The pile was made up of car parts that had been cut up and was not supposed to include any metal. He believed the pile may have included foam, rubber and other materials.

The fire produced a thick plume of dark smoke that could be seen for miles.

“The fire is undetermined as far as what actually started it,” McCard said. “We can’t rule out mechanical equipment working there. Metal may have gotten through and caused a spark.”

Approximately 75 percent of the pile was on fire when firefighters arrived. McCard requested the Dublin Fire Department’s tower truck to respond to the scene.

“While we were waiting on that, we were able to use deck guns and we were able to kind of contain the fire,” McCard said. “It kept blazing up. Once the tower truck arrived and we were able to establish water supply to it, we were able to bring the fire under control pretty quickly.”

With tankers, firefighters were able to set up a water supply with dump tanks. They came in, dropped their water and went back to fill up. The fire was under control around noon. 

“We work in conjunction with U.S. 1 once we got the fire contained and under control,” McCard said. “During the overhaul process, they used their excavator and were able to move some of the material so that we could have better access to put water on it.” 

Fire officials left the scene at around 2:27 p.m.

“None of the workers were hurt and none of the firefighters were hurt,” the chief said. “With the magnitude of what it was and where it was, it could have very easily been worse.”

He thanked EDFD and DFD for their help in battling the blaze.

“We all came together,” McCard said. 

“East Dublin is an automatic aid to that area. Dublin was mutual aid because I requested them. I estimate that the pile was probably 30 to 40 foot high. Without the assistance of the tower truck, it would have been an uphill battle. It was a valuable asset for us to be able to extinguish that fire as quickly as we did.”