Pallet pyrotechnics

When I heard the call across the scanner for this fire I knew things could be bad. A pallet fire was burning in a business off Hansen Road south west of town and with a yard full of wood the potential for disaster was there.


Driving over I could see flames licking up all the way from Lammers Road. Arriving I scene I found a shed housing piles of burning pallets. Luckily it was just one group of pallets burning but the flames were still impressive.



The fire may have been caused by a machine that grinds the used pallets into sawdust. A hot nail extracted from the pallet may have fallen in the sawdust igniting the blaze.


A total of eight engine companies and 24 crewman brought the fire under control in about 40 minutes and then spent the next two hours pouring water on the burnt and smoldering piles of wood. No one was hurt in the evening fire which was my first big fire of the year.