A large fire heavily damaged a Republic Services recycling center in Plano Wednesday evening.
A large fire heavily damaged a Republic Services recycling center in Plano Wednesday evening, fire officials say. [[408564835,R]]
The fire was reported at about 6:30 p.m. on the 4200 block of 14th Street.
Plano Fire Chief Sam Greif said the flames spread rapidly through the building, which houses large bales of recycled materials such as plastic bottles and cardboard. The building's sprinkler system was not operating, Greif said, likely due to a malfunction caused by the hard freeze last week.
All of the facility's workers safely evacuated, and no injuries were reported.
[[08568375,C]]
The fire was contained by about 8 p.m., however it caused significant structural damage to the building. Firefighters planned to continue extinguishing hot spots throughout the night and into Thursday morning, Greif said.
The cause of the fire is unknown, and will be investigated.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
The fire chief said crews are monitoring the air quality surrounding the building, and there are no concerns about toxic smoke to the public.
The city of Plano says due to the fire there will be no residential recycling collections Thursday, Dec. 29.
