UPDATE: Whitley County Emergency Management Director Danny Moses said an excavator is being used to dig into the burning pile of scrap aluminum at Eastern Kentucky Recycling and get at the source of the fire.
“When we knock it down, it comes right back,” Moses said of firefighters efforts to extinguish the blaze. “It is a never ending battle.”
Savoy Clear Creek Road remains closed to traffic beginning at the intersection with U.S. 25W.
No one was injured in the fire. Moses said several firefighters have been treated at the scene for heat issues.
Residents in the Savoy Clear Creek Road area of Whitley County are asked to remain indoors or evacuate to the Williamsburg Civic Center as firefighters work to contain a blaze at Eastern Kentucky Recycling.
Firefighters from Williamsburg, Emlyn, Pleasant View, South Whitley Patterson Creek, Goldbug, Oak Grove and Woodbine are on the scene off of U.S. 25W south of Williamsburg where a pile of scrap aluminum is burning.
Whitley County Emergency Management Director Danny Moses said firefighters were called to the scene at approximately 11:45 a.m.
Firefighters are using a combination of water and foam in an attempt to extinguish the blaze.
Because of the nature of the fire and the toxic smoke it is emitting, firefighters are forced to use their breathing apparatus while near the scene.
There is a 150-foot evacuation zone around the fire, which has spread from the aluminum pile to other parts of the scrap yard.
Williamsburg Chief Larry Todd has requested Lily Fire Department to bring its cascade system truck to the scene to refill the breathing apparatus tanks.
Rockholds firefighters are covering the Williamsburg area in the event of another call. Corbin Fire Department has been placed on standby.
Whitley County Detention Center and Whitley County Road Department are bringing diesel fuel to the scene for the fire trucks.
Check back to thenewsjournal.net/ for more details as they become available.
