Fire in South East Recycling Plant

Calgary firefighters were called out at noon today for a report of a building fire located at 10351 46 Street se.Crews arrived to find a large warehouse style building that collects, sorts and bales recyclable material. A large pile of unsorted material was found burning inside the facility. Firefighters wearing self contained breathing apparatus entered the smoke filled building and contained the fire. The building was evacuated and searched for employees. All staff had left the building. Once the fire was brought under control, front end loaders were and are being used to move the pile of material to the outside of the structure were it is being spread out and completely extinguished. This process may take several hours depending on how much of the pile of material is smoldering. Water being used to extinguish the fire is being prevented from entering the sewer system as a precaution. Air quality is also being monitored at the scene and does not pose a problem at this time. The cause of the fire is under investigation at this time.