An electrical fire damaged a Middletown Township scrap metal company on Wednesday morning.
Firefighters were called to Langhorne Scrap Metal on Big Oak Road at 7:22 a.m. for smoke coming from the roof of the structure. Additional calls followed that the building was ablaze.
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Crews arrived within minutes and found flames showing from the side of the building around a large hopper unit. The fire was burning up the wall, according Langhorne-Middletown Fire Company Chief Frank Farry.
Multiple hose lines were used to put down the flames.
Farry said the fire was marked under control at 7:45 a.m.
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No injuries were reported, and workers cleared the building once the fire was discovered.
The building suffered damage to the exterior.
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Middletown Township Fire Marshal Jim McGuire said the fire was caused by an electrical problem in the area of the hopper. He said security camera footage was used to determine the cause.
The scrap metal company has faced complaints with state environmental officials due to spills and has been cited by Middletown Township due to unpermitted burning.
A 2019 consent assessment of civil penalty stated that in August 2018 officials found waste oil discharging from the company’s site into a tributary of the Mill Creek, which runs all the way to Levittown, and a nearby wetland area. During a storm in November 2018, a state inspection showed waste oil was discharged from the facility onto the roadside, a swale, and into wetlands. The agreement noted that Langhorne Scrap Metal violated state regulations and failed to take “appropriate measures to prevent the release of a polluting substance.”
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When asked for comment about the fire, a Langhorne Scrap Metal employee declined and said “we get bashed enough.”
The Fairless Hills, Langhorne-Middletown, Penndel, Yardley-Makefield, and William Penn fire companies responded along with Newtown Fire-Rescue and the Middletown Township Department of Fire and Emergency Management. The Penndel-Middletown Emergency Squad was also at the scene along with township police who closed Big Oak Road for some time.
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