Fredericton landfill building destroyed by fire

Fire crews from Fredericton and the surrounding area remain at the scene of a working structure fire at the city's landfill site on Alison Boulevard.

A recycling building has been destroyed and an adjacent building damaged.

The fire is under control, but flames picked up again around 5:15 p.m., CBC's Redmond Shannon reported from the scene.

Fredericton Region Solid Waste Commission workers are assisting fire crews by dumping loads of snow on the rubble, he said.

Insp. Cameron Dunn believes thefire, which started at about 11:30 a.m.,was accidental.

The building contained large bales of recyclables, waiting to be shipped overseas for repurposing.

One person was working inside the building when the fire started and sounded the alarm, said Dunn.

The worker is safe and uninjured, he said.

Fire crews were inside the building fighting flames shortly after lunch when the platoon chief on sitesuddenlyordered everyone out.

Minutes later, the building started to fall apart from the blaze.

The roof quickly collapsed and large flames were shooting from the top of the building,which is located near the household hazardous waste depot.

Heavy black smoke wasvisible from miles away.

Crews shifted their focus to firesuppression and protecting the adjacent building, with the help of theOromocotoFire Department and New Maryland Fire Department.

An excavator was alsobrought in to tear down the building, which was only about five years old.

The destroyed building containedmostly paper and cardboard, as well as some plastics, said BradJanes, spokesperson for the Fredericton Region Solid Waste Commission.

There is not much to worry about in terms of pollution, he said.

The adjacent buildinghouses millions of dollars of recycling equipment, including abailermachine, which appears to be undamaged, officials said.

There is no water on site, so crews were trucking it in, CBC's Lauren Bird reported from the scene.

Fire trucks were lined up at the nearest hydrant, about 1.5 km away, said CBC's Shane Fowler.

Despite the massive fire, the rest of the landfill appeared to remain operational, he said.Waste trucks continued to move in and out of the site.

There was another fire at the Fredericton landfill in July 2012.