Employee Saves Business After Trash Fire Spreads To Recycling Center In NW Oklahoma City

An overnight trash fire spread to a recycling center in northwest Oklahoma City.

The scene was near Northwest 4th Street and Ann Arbor Avenue.

Authorities say an employee at the facility donned bunker gear and worked to move materials out of the way to prevent a 20-foot stack of cardboard from catching fire.

Battalion Chief David Meyer said the employee's quick actions saved the business.

Firefighters are currently investigating the cause of the flames, suspecting that a battery was compacted with recycled materials.

“It’s important that we keep the right recyclables with the right things,” Meyer said. “Batteries should never go in with everything else.”

This incident marks the second fire at a recycling plant in Oklahoma City within 24 hours.

The first fire occurred early yesterday morning around 3 a.m. near Southeast 59th Street and Interstate 35.

Firefighters extinguished those flames, and investigations into the cause of that fire are ongoing.