By Bill Vidonic
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review
ALIQUIPPA, Pa. — Beaver County firefighters believe someone set a fire that torched a pile of junked cars at an Aliquippa scrap yard early yesterday.
Aliquippa Fire Chief Dave Foringer said flames roared 60 feet in the air when firefighters arrived at Aliquippa Recycling shortly after 2 a.m. He estimated at least 200 vehicles were in the heap, piled nearly 30 feet high, though company owner Remo E. Bazzoli said there were about 75 or 100 vehicles.
At the height of the fire, Foringer said, firefighters from 10 companies in Beaver and Allegheny counties poured 3,000 gallons of water a minute on the vehicles. Firefighters brought the fire under control about 5 a.m.
Firefighters remained at the scrap yard for several hours, continuing to pour water on the smoldering pile, while company employees used heavy equipment to pull vehicles apart.
Foringer said there were several explosions from within the pile, likely from gasoline or other automotive liquids, but no injuries were reported.
Although tires and plastic fed the fire, Foringer said no toxic chemicals were released into the ground or nearby Ohio River.
No one lives near the plant, but a few manufacturing businesses are close by.
Bazzoli said the recycling business closed at noon Saturday. He said frequent break-ins have occurred at the scrap yard; people typically cut through fences to steal scrap metal, he said.
“It’s one of the challenges of being in this area,” Bazzoli said.
Bazzoli said the company considered buying security cameras even before the fire. He didn’t know how much the burned cars were worth. He said he pays between $250 and $350 for an average-sized scrapped vehicle, or between 9 cents and 10 cents a pound.
“People are risking going to jail to steal $20 of scrap,” Bazzoli said. “It’s not every day we have a theft, but it’s constant.”
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