Madison fire crews finally leave site of plant explosion

Firefighters at the scene since 4 p.m. Wednesday

MADISON, Wis. — Madison Fire Department crews stayed all night at a recycling center on South Park Street after a reported explosion caused a massive fire.

Crews were called to All Metals Recycling in the 1800 block of South Park Street around 4 p.m. Wednesday for reports of an explosion and a possible fire.

PHOTOS: Explosion, fire at Madison recycling center

Crews arrived to find heavy black smoke and flames billowing from the facility.

Firefighters contained the fire right away, but active winds and burning materials presented some challenges for crews trying to put it out.

Crews are using a crane to pull the metal pile apart to find the source of the fire, officials said.

MFD officials said they are concerned about the smoke and are working with the health department to monitor air quality.

A manager of All Metals Recycling told News 3 there was a large fire in the steel-mixed metal pile that started with some kind of explosion.

He said they don’t know what the source of the explosion was, but no one was hurt.

The manager said there was a crane operator near the pile when the explosion happened, and it cracked the windshield of the crane.