Another fire at recycling plant near Pardeeville causes thick smoke, road closures

Rebecca Loroff, Appleton Post-Crescent
·1 min read
Fire crews battle a blaze at a recycling center May 24, 2023 near Pardeeville, Wis.
Fire crews battle a blaze at a recycling center May 24, 2023 near Pardeeville, Wis.

Another fire at a Pardeeville-area recycling plant caused a large plume of smoke and road closures Wednesday afternoon, the Columbia County Sheriff's Office said.

The dispatch center started receiving calls shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday about a fire at Columbia County Solid Waste on State 16 in the town of Pacific. Fire crews arrived to find several storage buildings in flames. However, the main recycling plant was not affected, the sheriff's office said.

The sheriff's office also asked the public to avoid State 16 between Wyocena and Portage while fire crews worked. As of Thursday morning, it was unclear whether the fire had been fully extinguished.

This is the second fire this month at the plant. Fire chief Troy Haase told NBC15 Wednesday he was unsure whether the two fires were related, but the fire department will investigate any possible connection.

Rebecca Loroff is a breaking and trending news reporter for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. Contact her at rloroff@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Another fire at Columbia County Solid Waste Wednesday on Highway 16