Fire at Crown Recycling facility in Calverton, Long Island leaves neighbors concerned
A large fire at a recycling plant in Calverton on Long Island is under control.
The recycling plant was destroyed after the main building, considered a recycling transfer facility of Crown Recycling, caught fire.
The call came in at around 2 a.m. Wednesday.
"I actually woke up to a massive bang, and then I looked out my window," Calverton resident Tanya Barshell said. "I saw these flames."
More than 30 fire departments responded and worked on the blaze through the early morning hours. By 8 a.m., it was 80% contained. It was under control by noon.
"It's incredible to see how 30 departments can come together, and they don't practice together for scenes like this," Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard said. "They worked as one, knocked this fire down, and saved a lot of adjoining property from burning also."
The recycling transfer station predates smoke detector regulations, and officials say they did not have any.
"It was pretty much fire everywhere, and we had to extinguish it and keep the property safe," Riverhead Fire Chief Piotr Kurzyna said.
Riverside Police and Suffolk County Fire Rescue and Emergency Services advised residents to keep their windows closed as the building smoldered, but that advisory has since been lifted.
The Department of Environmental Conservation was also on the scene, but a DEC official said no air monitoring was done and there is no air monitoring equipment in the area. If warranted, they can get it from the EPA.
"I will probably keep mine closed for a while longer," Barshell said.
"We asked all our residents for four miles to keep their windows closed. As you heard me say now, there is no threat or concern," Suffolk County Fire and Rescue Commissioner Rudy Sunderman said.
"That property is a concern, because they do have fires. They have materials when they burn, it causes some serious issues," Calverton resident Douglas Cevasco said.
According to its website, Crown Recycling Facility recycles scrap metal and disposes of solid waste and demolition debris, including asbestos. It had serviced Suffolk County and the five boroughs of New York City for more than 30 years.
No one at Crown Recycling could be immediately reached for comment.
"They have a permit to transport asbestos, but it's our understanding that no asbestos was on site," Ryan McGarry of the DEC said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. Recycling in Riverhead is canceled for a week until other arrangements can be made.
There was only one minor injury to a firefighter in the blaze.
