Fire breaks out inside Waste Management recyclables facility

A front-end loader removes smoking debris from the recyclable building at Waste Management on Froday. (Rochester Fire photo)

ROCHESTER - A fire inside a building that houses Waste Management's recyclables drew a response from Rochester Fire early Friday morning.

The blaze at Waste Management Building 8 at 479 Steele Road was called in around 4:50 a.m., according to a City of Rochester statement released later in the day.

Assistant Rochester Fire Chief Tim Wilder said the fire started in the Materials Recovery Facility where Waste Management houses recyclables.

"The fire sprinkler system activated, which helped keep the fire from growing rapidly," said Wilder. "We called for a Tanker Task Force due to a lack of water supply.

There were no workers in the building at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported.

"A large portion of contents that were on fire were moved to the exterior of the building," Wilder added. "Waste Management personnel will be working the rest of the day to extinguish the remaining areas of materials that are still on fire."

Rochester Fire cleared the scene just after 11:30 a.m.

Rochester received mutual aid from Somersworth, Dover, Barrington, Strafford, Wakefield, Rollinsford, Pease AFB, and Lebanon, Maine.