The Merrill Fire Department was dispatched for numerous vehicles on fire at W6059 Heldt Street, Schulz’s Recycling Inc. in the Town of Scott Friday evening at 5:47 p.m. When Engine 2 arrived on scene, they were directed to the south end of the yard where a pile of about a dozen cars along with parts from others were on fire. The black smoke could be seen more than 20 miles away. Due to the location of the fire, Corning Fire was requested for mutual aid for tanker support. Off duty Merrill Fire Department members were paged in, along with Tomahawk EMS who came to Irma, for EMS back-up.
An employee for Schulz’s was cutting off a bumper on a vehicle with a torch when some of the sparks started the vehicle on fire. The vehicle was next to a pile of cars which ignited them. Some of the vehicles had flammable liquids in them which set off some small explosions when the fumes ignited.
Using water and foam, the fire was quickly knocked down. Schulz’s used their front end loaders to take the pile apart so firefighters could get at the fires in the center of the pile. It took about an hour to extinguished the fire.