Remains of warehouse destroyed by fire at twin Village Recycling in Depew, NY
DEPEW, NY - Things are getting back to normal in Depew where an inferno at a scrap yard tied up more than 100 fire fighters for several hours Monday night,...and prompted a warning to nearby residents to stay inside.
In fact, less than 24 hours after the flames subsided, Twin Village Recycling was back open for business taking in a steady stream of scrap metal, from customers who also took time to extend well wishes to employees in the wake of the fire.
Twin Village President Nick Marcezin, whose parents founded the business on Broadway in 1946, told WGRZ-TV it is now believed that sparks from an arc welder touched off the blaze just before 4pm Monday. Marcezin also wished to express his thanks to firefighters who he said were "excellent" in their response.
The fire reduced two large metal buildings pretty much to scrap which, fortunately, Twin Village has a quite a bit of experience in handling.
"We certainly do," said Jennifer Antilla, who was working as a weigh master and was at her post just across the driveway from where the flames erupted and spread quickly.
"It did go pretty fast...I'm kind of calm under pressure so for me it wasn't that traumatic. I know some others (employees) were pretty shaken up but we got everybody out safely and no one was injured," Antilla told 2 On Your Side.
Tracy Frazer lives one mile north of Twin Village, but was well aware of the fire.
"All of the sudden we saw a big cloud of black smoke coming over our yard," said Frazer.
Frazer also showed us a large piece of ash, about eight inches long and four inches wide, which fell into her yard.
"My concern was that if this was in my yard...what was in the air that all of us were breathing in?"
New York State Department Environmental Conservation spokesperson Lori Severino confirms that the agency responded to the scene, but says their main concern was that the runoff from all the water poured onto the blaze was being contained. She added that the agency was satisfied with steps taken to contain the runoff and that the DEC had no lingering concerns about air quality.
In the meantime Twin Village says despite what amounts to a set back, it is confident that its business won't end up on the scrap heap.
"We just have a little cleanup to do," Antilla said.
Click on the video player to watch our story from 2 On Your Side Reporter Dave McKinley and Photojournalist Andy Desantis.
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WGRZ-TV, wgrz.com