SHARON HILL, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Firefighters brought a large scrapyard fire in Darby Township, Delaware County under control Wednesday. The scrapyard is owned by EMR, a company that is no stranger to fire.
Video showed large flames coming from the yard, with thick, heavy black smoke pouring into the air.
The property, owned by EMR, is located near Calcon Hook and Hook roads in Sharon Hill, not far from the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum and Philadelphia International Airport. Firefighters spent hours getting the blaze under control. According to EMR, no one was injured.
The fire forced first responders to divert traffic and block off a number of roads, inconveniencing and scaring neighbors.
"I stepped out on my front and I saw all this smoke. It looked real bad," said Greg Cook of Sharon Hill.
For Cook, the enormity of the fire, from which black rolls of smoke billowed that could be seen for miles, forced him to do more than just look on from his porch.
"I'm just making sure my wife was okay because she works right here at the store. I'm just making sure we don’t have to evacuate or I got to come get her," he said.
Both the Philadelphia Department of Public Health and Delaware County Health Department have been monitoring the air quality near the scene of the fire. The smoke spread into Philadelphia, so city inspectors have also been collecting air samples to assess air quality and the potential for any threat.
At this time, no specific hazardous substances have been identified.
Philadelphia and Darby Township officials have warned residents to avoid areas affected by the smoke and stay inside with doors and windows shut.
EMR owns another junkyard in Camden that has been under recent scrutiny. A large fire at the Camden yard in May prompted City Council to suspend EMR’s license. That fire was the latest of at least 12 there over a five-year span. Camden officials suspended EMR’s license and rejected its proposal to reopen, but a judge ruled that measure was illegal.
In a statement, the company said the scrap yard has been used as a gathering point for recyclable materials collected by independent peddlers. It said it receives the material and sorts it by metal type for later processing offsite.
As for the cause, the company said, "The fire that ignited this morning is believed to have originated at the top of a pile of inbound materials exposed to the extreme heat affecting the Philadelphia region [Wednesday.]" Despite the speculation, an investigation into the exact cause of the fire is ongoing.
Scrapyard owner EMR under scrutiny for recent fires at its Camden facility
Scrapyard owner EMR under scrutiny for recent fires at its Camden facility
