By José Patiño Girona
The Tampa Tribune
TAMPA, Fla. — Smoke from a fire at a scrap metal business at the Port of Tampa darkened the sky for miles Tuesday afternoon in a scene almost identical to a blaze at the same facility four years earlier.
The fire was reported about 3:30 p.m. at Trademark Metals Recycling, 4201 Maritime Blvd. No one was injured.
The fire started in a pile of household machinery and appliances that was about 21/2 stories high and the length of a football field, said Capt. Lonnie Benniefield, a fire department spokesman. The metal was destined for a shredder.
Large plumes of heavy, black smoke could be seen the rest of the afternoon throughout much of the Tampa Bay area.
The fire appears to have started accidentally, Benniefield said.
“When you are moving piles of metal they touch, and there could be a spark,” he said. “This is not uncommon for this to happen.”
Firefighters had the fire controlled relatively quickly, but Benniefield said it could be days before the fire is extinguished.
In November 2007, a large fire broke out at Trademark Metals in an area where scrap metal was piled. As with the fire Tuesday, that blaze caused a huge plume of smoke.
Copyright 2011 The Tribune Co. Publishes The Tampa Tribune