By Kristi Miller
Pioneer Press
EAGAN, Minn. — A five-alarm fire that broke out at an Eagan lead battery recycling facility early Sunday drew firefighters from 12 municipalities and was under control as of late Sunday morning, authorities said.
No injuries were reported in the blaze that erupted about 5 a.m. within the roof of a main building at the Gopher Resource Recycling Facility at 685 Yankee Doodle Rd. , Eagan Deputy Fire Chief Kip Springer said.
The facility is near the intersection of Yankee Doodle and Dodd roads, and the latter briefly closed as firefighters responded. Employees at the 24-hour facility evacuated.
The fire hadn’t been extinguished and likely wouldn’t be out until afternoon because of its location between two portions of the roof, Springer said.
The Minnesota Fire Marshal’s office, M Health Fairview Emergency Medical Services, the Minnesota State Patrol, The Salvation Army, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Department of Transportation are among entities that responded, some in a precautionary capacity.
The pollution agency monitored the air as a precaution.
Firefighters went through a decontamination procedure after their work, which Springer said is standard.
“We do it on every fire we respond to,” he said. “We make sure we leave everything on-site and don’t bring anything back to the station.”
[RELATED: 5 steps for gross decon post-fire]
An investigation into the cause of the fire will begin once it is extinguished, Springer said.
It’s not the first time an early morning fire has erupted at the complex. A two-alarm fire broke out in 2013 when a front-end loader inside a building caught fire.
Several other fires at Twin Cities recycling plants have occurred in recent years years.
- A 2016 fire at Northern Metal Recycling in Minneapolis was ruled accidental.
- In 2019, the Dem-Con recycling plant in Blaine burned down in a fire suspected to have been caused by lithium ion battery recycling.
- In 2020, a debris pile caught fire at St. Paul’s Metro Metal’s Recycling.
- Also in 2020, a fire at Pioneer Industries in Minneapolis was believed to be arson.
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