Fire at Alter Recycling in Ottumwa

OTTUMWA, Iowa (KYOU) - Ottumwa firefighters were called out to Alter Recycling just after Noon on Tuesday.

Deputy Fire Chief Cory Benge says workers were carrying gasoline in a tote when it became compromised and hit the ground.

That created a spark and started the fire.

It burned the gas, part of the building, and some equipment.

Benge says one person had a minor injury.

He says it took crews about ten minutes to put the fire out.

One challenge was the amount of hose they needed to use to get access to the hydrant which was located down the road from the facility.

“When you get on the outskirts of town like this water pressure is limited so far from the middle of town where weather distribution plant is and we go thills and everything else so a little longer lay coming here but that’s why we carry a lot of hose on the firetrucks for a situation like this,” says Deputy Chief Cory Benge.

He says they do training on the property so they had a good handle of the layout of the land when they got there to put out the fire.