Air National Guard joins fire crews in fighting blaze at Park City recycling plant
Fire crews continue to monitor and contain a fire that has been burning at the Evergreen Recycle plant in Park City since Sunday.
In a media briefing Tuesday at the plant, Sedgwick County Fire District 1 Fire Marshal Brad Crisp said the goal is to get the flames extinguished and the fire completely under control by the end of the day.
“I am cautiously optimistic that we now have the upper hand on this fire, and the threat to nearby homes and businesses is much lower,” he said in a news release later. “But there are still piles of wood burning or smoldering, so our work is not over. Crews will ... remain on the scene until the fire is declared under control and we’re sure no hot spots are going to flare up again.”
A Kansas Air National Guard Black Hawk helicopter made 15 aerial water drops over the fire, dumping about 9,000 gallons of water. The helicopter refilled from a Kansas Department of Transportation lake near K-96, according to a Sedgwick County news release.
Sedgwick County declared a state of local disaster emergency on Monday for the fire that was considered uncontrolled at the time. Crews have made progress containing the fire since then.
“I’m really happy to tell you that our crews did hold that north fire line all night last night,” Crisp said. “We had a little bit cooler weather, and this morning as well, so that really helped.”
No other businesses or homes have been affected by the fire.
Crisp said Sedgwick County Fire District 1 is using roughly 40% of their resources on the fire.
“We don’t normally have operating period that extends past 6 or 8 hours, so it is different,” Crisp said. “We’ve done it before, and we’ve had a little bit of practice with this. It’s not ideal, but we are maintaining a presence.”
Crisp said the county’s fire stations are still staffed and responding to calls.
Evergreen Recycle faced a similar fire in 2022 that caused $1 million in damage to wood products. That fire, which burned for a week, was found to be caused by spontaneous ignition of mulch and grass underneath wood piles.
State of emergency declared as firefighters battle Park City recycling plant fire
