Firefighters from several volunteer fire departments continued to try to put out a blaze Wednesday afternoon that began as a large structure fire more than 12 hours earlier.
No one was injured in the fire on the 19-acre site owned by Charlotte W. Helt, who once operated the recycling center with her late husband, Roger W. Helt. Charlotte still lives in a home on the property at 10770 E. County Road 125S.
The fire was first reported at the former Helt Enterprises-Recycling site south of Seymour to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department at 10:56 p.m. Tuesday. Firefighters from several departments extinguished the blaze, but it rekindled about two hours later and was still burning Wednesday afternoon.
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Crothersville-Vernon Township Fire Chief Ben Spencer said the cause of the fire remained under investigation Wednesday afternoon.
“We’re working closely with the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office to determine the cause of the fire,” he said.
He said he expected it to burn into the evening. The fire was difficult to extinguish because of the materials involved, which included plastic, tires, pallets and other materials, he said.
The water firefighters sprayed on the burning plastic cooled it, which was essentially creating a shield for the flames burning underneath. That’s the type of fire that fire officials consider “deep-seated fires,” Spencer said.
One solution Spencer and other firefighters were exploring Wednesday afternoon was the use of an excavator to move the piles around so water could reach the flames.
“There are residences nearby, and that’s why we’re doing what we’re doing trying to put this fire out,” he said.
Spencer said the fumes from the plastic burning was the primary concern of fire officials, and representatives from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and Jackson County Health Department were on scene.
“We have a gas meter out to monitor the levels and are looking at that,” he said, adding the situation seemed to improve as firefighters contained the fire. “We’re seeing a lot of steam now, but when we were first here, it was heavy black smoke.”
The rural site is at the edge of a wooded area, but firefighters were able to stop the fire from spreading to that area. Rainy conditions in the morning and afternoon also helped keep the fire contained.
“It’s helped, but it has hampered some of our guys,” Spencer said, adding many had been on site since the fire was first reported.
This is not the first fire on the property. A fire was reported in April 2000 when the site still operated. That fire involved similar materials and included one minor injury of an employee.
The Seymour Fire Department and Grassy Fork, Jackson-Washington, Brownstown, Redding and Hamilton township volunteer fire departments assisted with the fire.