Firefighters and other first responders were called to the Robert C. Shinn Jr. Recycling Center shortly before 10 a.m. and found parts of the building well involved, according to police radio reports. All employees have been accounted for, officials said around 11 a.m.
David Lewinsky reports for the Burlington County Times:
WESTAMPTON — A three-alarm fire damaged the county recycling center off Hancock Lane on Saturday morning.
Firefighters and other first responders were called to the Robert C. Shinn Jr. Recycling Center shortly before 10 a.m. and found parts of the building well involved, according to police radio reports. The fire was placed under control at 11:39 a.m.
Eight workers were in the building at the time the fire began, but all exited unharmed, said a county spokesman. He said officials believe a conveyor belt caught fire, but the cause of the fire is still under investigation. The Burlington County fire marshal is expected to clear the building Sunday.
The fire was contained to two conveyor belts, officials said. Recycling collection will not be interrupted, but operations at the center will be down until at least Monday, a spokesman said.
The county opened its renovated single-stream recycling center in 2015. Officials spent just under $15 million on modifying the 100,000-square-foot recycling center to allow it to accept single stream.
The Burlington County Regional Recycling Program provides recycling and collection services to all 40 municipalities in Burlington County and some contracts with the state and military installations. It’s operated in partnership with the Occupational Training Center, a nonprofit that offers vocational rehabilitation, job placement programs, day programs and housing for adults with disabilities.
Each weekday, the recycling program, which began in 1982 at OTC uses a fleet of about 20 recycling trucks to gather about 195 tons of recyclables from about 161,000 households across the county, according to the nonprofit.
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