PETERSBURG, Mich. — Smoke from a large fire at a waste management company in Monroe County on Saturday night could be seen for miles.
The fire occurred at Stevens Disposal & Recycling on Ida West Rd. in Petersburg around 9:10 p.m. and continued into the overnight hours.
Seventeen fire departments responded to the blaze.
Patrick Miller, an employee at Stevens, says the fire occurred in a transfer station building at the facility.
According to the Summerfield Twp. Volunteer Fire Department, the 100' x 100' building was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived.
"You could see it uptown. We live in town of Petersburg. We live in town, and we see, you know, you could see the smoke for miles," said Miller. "So, I got on my bicycle and rode up here to see what was going on. I had some friends here already, and we just started moving trucks away from the building."
Summerfield Twp. fire says hydrants were not able to provide enough water to fight the fire so other sources had to be established, including Herkimer pond east of the facility.
Stevens Disposal says no one was injured in the fire since they were closed at the time.
It’s unclear how the fire started.
Multiple fire and police departments, and other emergency personnel responded to the fire as well as Red Cross Disaster Relief.
WTOL 11 reached out to Monroe City Fire Department and Ida Volunteer Fire Department for comment but have not heard back.
On Sunday, Stevens announced that all garbage pickup routes will run as scheduled.
Stevens Disposal recently signed a contract with the city of Monroe for residential curbside garbage pickup.
The refuse contract is scheduled to begin on Monday July 3, and will run through 2028.
Stevens lists refuse and recycling pickup, yard waste, dumpster rental, and portable toilets among the services they offer.
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