Fire breaks out in Richmond on Mitchell Island

A fire has broken out in Richmond Wednesday afternoon.

Richmond Fire Rescue Department told CityNews the fire is at a recycling depot at the west end of Mitchell Island near the Knight Street Bridge.

“There’s a fairly large recycling scrap pile of materials that’s burning. It is not near any buildings or any structures, so there’s no structures at risk. We’ve got a full first alarm of crews and trucks down there working on extinguishing the fire, and we’ve had some success so far. And the initial thick black smoke from the recycling material is dissipated,” Richmond Fire Chief Jim WIshlove said.

Calling into CityNews, listeners say big plumes of black smoke can be seen across the water from Richmond, while others are closing windows and doors due to the smell of the fire.

Expecting to have the fire extinguished before sundown, Wishlove says all employees at the recycling depot are accounted for, and no injuries have been reported.

For anyone commuting home using the Knight Street Bridge, Wishlove has some advice.

“We do know that there’s a wind blowing from west to east right now, it’s a fairly light wind, but it is carrying some of that dissipated smoke over the night Street Bridge, and my recommendation would be that if anybody’s traveling over the bridge right now obviously returning home from work that they do so with their windows rolled up because the smell is fairly strong,” he said.

Wishlove says fire investigators have just arrived on scene, and will be looking into how the fire started.

“Obviously, they’re going to be taking stock of what’s happening right now, but it’s going to take them a bit of time to figure out the cause and origin.”

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With files from Michael Williams