Crews Put Out Conveyor Fire at TN Asphalt Plant

Firefighters extinguished a conveyor belt fire that broke out at a Greenville, TN asphalt plant Monday night, stopping the flames before they reached a fuel tank, several local news organizations reported Tuesday.

President of the Summers-Taylor asphalt plant, Grant Summers, told local television news station WJHL that the fire originated on a conveyor belt in a building at the plant. Firefighters responded to the scene at about 9 p.m. Monday, dousing the fire as it neared a 10,000 to 15,000 gal fuel tank, WJHL reported.

The first firefighter to arrive at the plant, Paul Frutiger of the Midway Volunteer Fire Department, said in the news station’s report that a “large volume of fire was rolling up, and I could tell that it was very dark, black smoke, so I didn’t really know what I had. I kept everybody back until I had an idea what was burning.”

No one was working at the site when the fire was ignited, the Greenville Sun reported, and no injuries were reported.

“I would say the fire was pretty much controlled within 30 minutes of us arriving on scene,” Lt. Bobby Carter of the Mosheim Volunteer Fire Department told the Sun.

The cause of the fire remains undetermined.

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