Four-alarm fire at Portland recycling plant sends huge plume of smoke over Columbia River

A four-alarm fire at Radius Recycling, which is affiliated with Schnitzer Steel, in North Portland sent a plume of smoke into the air that could be seen from all over Vancouver on Wednesday afternoon.

Portland Fire & Rescue responded to reports of a fire in a scrap pile about 1 p.m. at 12005 N. Burgard Road, near the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette rivers.  The pile included smashed cars, appliances and other large metal objects, which were scheduled to go through the shredder later in the afternoon, according to a statement from the agency.

The fire was eventually raised to a fourth alarm with engines, trucks, fireboats and personnel from all over Portland battling the blaze.

“Four hours after the first alarm was sent, the command officer considered the situation under control,” Portland fire said in the statement.

There were no reported injuries to responders or plant personnel.

Water used to fight the fire was captured by the on-site water collection system, according to the statement, which will capture it, strain out particulates and run it through a purification process reducing the concerns of contaminated run off entering the watershed.

Fire crews were onsite until midnight watching for hotspots.