A multi-alarm fire broke out just after 6:00 pm on Friday night, May 13, at the Zero Waste Solutions facility located at 48 Cranberry Highway in Rochester.
The $27 million, 100,000 square-foot trash, debris, and recycling sorting facility fire was called in at 6:12 pm, according to Rochester Fire Chief Scott Weigel during a follow-up phone call on Monday, May 16. The fire started at one end of the building and quickly spread into other areas.
“It was a very, very smoky fire,” said Weigel. “Very impressive.” Route 28 had to be closed and traffic on Route 495 was slowed to a crawl because of the smoke. “It was a very impressive fire.”
Rochester Fire Department received assistance from the surrounding towns of Marion, Mattapoisett, Wareham, Carver, Freetown, Acushnet, and Lakeville. Getting water at the site, Weigel said, was the biggest challenge in extinguishing the fire. The task required a total of six tanker trucks and 3,500 feet of hose stretching from the corner of Route 28 and 58 to the structure fire.
Firefighters battled the fire from outside, unable to enter the premises for safety reasons, and were finally able to haul some of the burning debris outside around 1:00 am to extinguish much of the burning. Crews were on the scene until about 7:30 am Saturday morning.
“It was a long, drawn-out fire,” Weigel said.
No injuries were reported.
“It’s very hard to say what the cause [of the fire] is,” stated Weigel. He said chemical reactions between substances stored at the site could have played a role in sparking the fire but details are not yet available. “It’s going to be very, very difficult to make a determination.
The Massachusetts Fire Marshal is investigating, Weigel said.
Zero Waste Solutions, LLC is a sister company of ABC Disposal Service, Inc., which just filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection on Wednesday, May 11. In a memorandum to the Rochester town administrator and received by the Board of Selectmen, ABC Disposal Vice-President and CEO Michael Camara informed the town that the company’s action is “to protect the company’s interest during our very complex and time consuming restructuring of the financial process for our Zero Waste Project.”
The memo reads, “During the past year we have met many unforeseen obstacles including … project design and financial challenges which have caused delays. This action was taken to allow us the time to refinance our company with new financial institutions.”
Camara reassured the town that they are committed to honoring the contractual obligations for handling the town’s solid waste and recycling currently under contract.
By Jean Perry