Fire keeps burning at Vernon Township salvage site

Fire keeps burning at Vernon Township salvage site

VERNON

A fire at Countryside Salvage, 6542 Orangeville-Kinsman Road, continued to burn Monday afternoon after igniting Saturday morning.

Officials expect to have it controlled by Tuesday morning.

Mike Settles, spokesman for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, said some of the debris that caught fire are wood and plastic interior parts of mobile homes that were scrapped there.

Settles said the U.S. EPA arrived at the site Monday and has taken over the investigation, but Settles said he doesn’t know whether the site contained hazardous chemicals.

Air-quality tests indicated the presence of chemicals or pollutants in the area of the fire, but there was no chemical problem detected as a result of the smoke leaving the area, Settles said, adding that there are homes about a quarter mile or half mile away from the salvage yard.

Settles said he was unable to learn what caused the fire to begin. The site, which dates back to the 1970s and 1980s, is being covered with soil to smother the fire, Settles said. An additional “cap” layer of clay will also be placed on it.