A large fire in stacks of plastic pallets at a South Toledo business sent plumes of heavy black smoke into the sky Wednesday afternoon.
Crews were dispatched at 12:11 p.m. to TC Packaging in the 5800 block of Angola Road. Pvt. Sterling Rahe, spokesman for the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department, said firefighters arriving on scene quickly called in a second alarm as the outdoor fire behind the business’ building grew.
Reg Alarm @ 1211 - 5855 Angola Rd. Dispatched as large building fire, quickly found to be plastic pallets stacked 25-30ft high involved. Several vehicles damaged/destroyed. TY @ToledoPolice for providing traffic/crowd control allowing #ToledoFire crews quick access to the fire. pic.twitter.com/0xBcDxDLZY
— Toledo Fire & Rescue (@ToledoFire) July 15, 2020
“It was pretty windy and it was pushing the fire toward along the line of pallets toward the building,” he said.
Firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control about 12:45 p.m., but not before a small bus limousine parked near the property line at neighboring Childers Transportation caught fire and was destroyed, Private Rahe said. Several other large buses were also parked there, but he did not yet know if they had sustained any damage.
“The radiant heat was very, very hot,” he said.
Because of the plastics, the department notified the city of Toledo’s environmental services as well as the Environmental Protection Agency as a precaution. Toledo Edison, which has high-tension transmission lines nearby, temporarily shut off power to the industrial area.
Private Rahe said damage from the fire was estimated at $50,000, and the fire was ruled accidental. There were no injuries.
First Published July 15, 2020, 7:26 p.m.
