Fire at west side junk yard under investigation
A junkyard fire on Indianapolis’ west side was quickly extinguished Monday evening, according to the Wayne Township Fire Department.
The fire burned at Happy’s Auto Salvage, 500 S. Tibbs Ave. Fire investigators were working to determine the cause of the fire Monday evening, said Capt. Eric Banister of the Wayne Township Fire Department.
“Right now, they are investigating, but I'm not sure the place is even open so I'm not sure what exactly is going on,” Banister said.
No one was injured in Monday’s fire and crews had it under control in about 20 minutes after they were dispatched at 4:45 p.m., Banister said.
Junkyard fires, such as the one on Monday, occur more frequently than the fire department would like, Banister said.
Thick smoke was visible for miles during a 2019 fire at a business in the same area as Happy's Auto Salvage. Scrap vehicles, tires and other material caught fire at Ace Midtown Recycling, 501 S. Tibbs Ave. during the 2019 fire.
“Junkyards, by the nature of their business, they tend to get some fires going,” Banister said. “It's not intentional but it happens when you are cutting on cars and stuff.”
The combination of cutting torches and batteries at junkyards or recycling sites is what causes most of the fires to break out, he said.
“Just in general, if you get a pile of scrap in the right place, it's a lot of hot metal,” Banister said. “Once it heats up, it sustains its own combustion."
About four rows of cars, stacked 15 to 20 feet high, caught fire at Happy’s Auto Salvage on Monday, he said.
A crew from Marion County Health and Hazard was dispatched to the site to ensure nothing toxic leaked out to a nearby creek during the fire, Banister said.
A fire hydrant near the site on Monday was broken, but it did not impact the department’s operations, Banister said.
“I'm not 100% sure what is wrong with it,” Banister said. “It did not affect our operations all. Once the water was established it never was lost.”
Wayne Township Fire Department and mutual aid company’s are fighting a large fire at Happy’s Auto Salvage located at 500 S. Tibbs Ave. The fire is under investigation and there have been no reports of injuries. pic.twitter.com/ZABz6QU6O4
— Wayne Township Fire Department (@Waynetwpfire) December 13, 2021
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis fire: West side junk yard catches fire
