Smoke from fire at Kansas City, Kansas, recycling center could be seen for miles Friday

Update: Officials urged residents in the Kansas City area to stay indoors if they could could see smoke coming from the fire at Advantage Metals in Kansas City, Kansas. That story is posted here.

Smoke from a fire at a Kansas City, Kansas, recycling center could be seen for miles around Friday morning, fire officials said.

Firefighters were called at 5:28 a.m. to extinguish what became a 20-foot high blaze at Advantage Metals in the 1100 block of South 12th Street, according to Assistant Chief Scott Schaunaman, a spokesman with the Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department.

And the firefighters had a problem: They only had one fire hydrant and it was 1,000 feet away, Schaunaman said.

A crane operator working at the yard attempted to put out the fire, but failed. Three pumper vehicles and two fire trucks were dispatched to the scene.

Schaunaman first viewed the fire from around seven miles away, while driving near Interstate 70 and 18th St.

“Smoke could be seen for miles,” he said.

At 10:45 a.m. the Johnson County Health Department warned residents of the fire and advised them to stay indoors if smoke was visible, as it was “potentially impacting air quality in northern Johnson County.”

The fire’s heat was too intense for firefighters to stand nearby, forcing them to either attack the fire from a distance or use a ladder to spray water from above the blaze.

“Our immediate concern was there was an overhead power line and the heat of the fire was kind of impinging on that,” Schaunaman said.

The Board of Public Utilities shut down the lines. Schaunaman did not know whether residential areas had been affected.

The fire continued to grow larger because of the amount of metals and flammable material in the recycling center.

The center’s piles of automobiles, refrigerators and propane tanks, some still containing fuel, fed the fire.

“There’s still residual gas in there,” Schaunaman said. “Anything combustible is burning.”

Tires on vehicles burst in the heat, mimicking the sounds of explosions to many on the scene, Schaunaman said.

Firefighters requested more help as the hours went on. Another fire district dispatched a foam trailer to quiet the flames, which Schaunaman said, does not happen often.

“It is unique,” he said. “Hopefully putting foam on the fire will help.”

The closest fire hydrant was 1,000 feet away. The next closest hydrant was almost a mile away.

“It’s difficult to put the gallons per minute of water that you need on the fire when you’re only operating with one fire hydrant,” he said.

Emergency management services were also monitoring the air quality, in the case that an evacuation is needed.

As of about 10 a.m, Schaunaman said the fire was contained, but may not be extinguished “for some time.”

No injuries have been reported at this time.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is made available.