A fire on the east side of Sims Metal in Redwood City on Wednesday began while employees at the recycling facility were loading a shredder with burning pieces of metal, according to Redwood City Fire Battalion Chief Chuck Lax.
“They were in the process of putting the scrap into their shredder,” Lax said. “And then, when the fire started in the pile, they called 911. We responded.” grab bucket parts
Firefighters arrived on the scene at Sims Metal, located at 699 Seaport Boulevard, around 3 p.m. with five fire engines and one fire ladder, Lax said. By 5:30 p.m., fire crews had contained the fire, he said.
Firefighters and Sims Metal employees were not injured during Wednesday’s fire, Lax said.
On Wednesday evening, San Mateo County said that Redwood City fire crews were on the scene at Sims Metal, “battling a fire from a mixed metals pile” at the metal recycling facility near the Port of Redwood City.
Lax said it’s unclear exactly how the fire started, and it’s unlikely that they will determine a cause because firefighters had to extinguish the blaze using the recycling company’s shredder.
“But to put the fire out, ‘the scrap pile’ was fed through the shredder machine, even some burning parts that were still on fire. So we’re not going to be able to determine the cause of the fire. It was shredded to put the fire out,” Lax said.
According to Lax, as metal is fed through the shredder, water is applied to it so that it cools down. The metal then goes into the shredded pile, where more water is applied “so the heat doesn’t continue to burn.”
James Haggerty, a spokesperson with Sims Metal, said the fire started in “a relatively small stockpile of ‘light iron’ received solely during that day, which was set for processing in the metal shredder later that evening.”
Haggerty said the light iron consisted of approximately 400 tons of various light-gauge steel items, such as depolluted appliances from Certified Appliance Recyclers, siding, fencing, and other loose, thin-gauge steel (ferrous) material.
Sims Metal scrap pile is located on the east side of the property parallel to Seaport Boulevard. The scrap pile was roughly about 400 feet by 150 feet, Lax said. The part of the pile that was burning was 200 feet by 100 feet.
San Mateo County health officials issued a statement Wednesday advising that while no shelter in place was active, “those who are sensitive to smoke should stay indoors, close windows and doors, and ensure that air conditioners and fans are not pulling in air from outdoors.”
Officials stated that the fire plume was headed south along the Bayside coast of San Mateo County, over the Dumbarton Bridge and into Santa Clara County.
Smoke drifted all the way into Sunnyvale, and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District was on the scene to monitor the air quality.
The Redwood City Fire Department said it was working in close tandem with Sims staff and were “getting a real good handle on” the fire by 5 p.m., adding the smoke had decreased quite a bit.
The Mountain View Fire Department posted to X regarding Wednesday’s Sims Metal fire: “Thick, dark smoke is in the air accompanied by the smell of burning plastic.” They also asked that the public not call 9-1-1 unless they see an active fire.
Lax said the odor came from the scrap metal, which is made up of various metals, including cars and water heaters.
Haggerty said the material is put through a shredder so that it can be recycled and it is estimated that more than 70% of the steel produced in the United States is recycled steel, which helps preserve our environment and support decarbonization.
“Sims takes every incident of this type seriously, and works closely with local authorities and members of the community to ensure the company is a proper steward of both the local community and the environment,” Haggerty said.
Lax said city officials would hold follow-up meetings with Sims staff “like we do anytime we have an incident there.”
“They want to work with the city to continue to be able to conduct business and not have an impact on the community,” he said.
Sims Metal owns over 200 facilities that process scrap metal purchased from other businesses and recyclers, according to its website.
Sims Metal’s Redwood City recycling facility has been the site of multiple fires. A large blaze that broke out at the metal recycling plant in 2021 triggered several explosions, damaged multiple vehicles and left one worker injured.
The incident prompted the State of California to issue an order to the recycling center asking it to investigate the degree to which its operations may have caused pollution in the area from its facility and to clean it up.
The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has conducted multiple inspections of the recycling facility and had determined that “releases of hazardous waste and hazardous waste constituents have occurred.
Bay City News contributed to this report.
Michelle Iracheta helped launch the Redwood City Pulse in 2021 with the goal of bringing community news back to Redwood City. In her career spanning more than a decade, Michelle has covered mental health,... More by Michelle Iracheta
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