(La Porte County, IN) - There was a decently-sized industrial-type fire in La Porte County last evening that occured at Glycerin Traders along Indiana 104 in Stillwell.

 

The plant, recycling expired bottles of hand sanitizer, caught fire just before 5 p.m.  Pleasant Township Fire Chief, Kevin Bluhm, stated that about 30 workers exited safely as firefighters from multiple agencies were there until about 10 p.m.

 

Bluhm noted that it appears a conveyor belt had somehow malfunctioned, which generated sparks that came into contact with a flammable alcohol-based liquid.

 

The recycling process involves removing the liquid from the plastic bottles, which are then shredded and placed into a semi-trailer.  After, the liquid goes into a separate holding area until it is shipped to an incinerator for disposal.

 

“Inside the building, we had a semi-trailer that was loaded with plastic on fire and we had several totes of methanol also around the area on fire,” Bluhm said.

 

Fortunately, Bluhm said the facility was equipped with an automatic sprinkler system, which helped contain the flames to one corner of the roughly 100 x 160 foot metal framed structure.

 

Bluhm stated that fighting the fire was more dangerous than usual, because flames strictly from alcohol cannot be seen. Hand sanitizer is mostly comprised of alcohol, which led the Fire Chief to note that the fire was visible in an area where plastic and other materials were burning.

 

Two firefighters suffered minor burns, while another firefighter suffered minor smoke inhalation. Bluhm described the damage to the structure as being moderate.