Large Fire in Reykjanes Saturday
From the scene of the fire. Photo/Su[urnes
Fire erupted at a recycling facility in Helguvík, the Reykjanes peninsula, Southwest Iceland, shortly before noon on Saturday. The facility is operated by the waste management company Íslenska gámafélagið. No one was injured, but the fire quickly spread throughout the building and completetly destroyed it. A cloud of toxic, black smoke billowed from the site, and residents were advised to close windows.
“This is a great shock and damages are enormous,” states Ólafur Thordersen, assistant director of Gámafélagið. Damages are estimated to amount to tens of millions of ISK.
The fire was still smouldering yesterday in stacks of wood — several meters high — located near the destoyed building, and the Suðurnes Fire Department worked into the evening, trying to put it out.
“We keep hosing this, and then there are two excavators spreading the debris to help put out the fire,” states Herbert Eyjólfsson, one of the firefighters. The goal is to prevent brush fires in the area.
This morning, mbl.is reports that although the fire was put out last night, firefighters had to return at 5 am, due to increasing heat in the wood. They expect to complete their work at the site shortly.
The cause of the fire is being investigated by the police.
