Fire at Brainerd Recycling Center Forces Road Closure

A fire at a Brainerd recycling center forced the closure of a nearby road today as firefighters worked to put out the blaze.

Fire crews responded to Crow Wing Recycling around 7:15 this morning after a scrap pile caught on fire. Because of the large fire, Industrial Park Road was closed for a little over two hours.

The facility was not damaged, but it took fire crews about two hours to extinguish the fire involving the scrap pile.

“We’ve been there before for similar situations,” said Brainerd Fire Chief Tim Holmes. “Crews got on scene, we worked with the staff at the recycling center to separate the pile. They use their large grapples and separate the pile as we kind of extinguish whatever’s on fire in the pile and work with them for about two hours separating the pile and getting the fire put out.”

The owner of Crow Wing Recycling tells Lakeland News the fire was likely started by a lithium-ion battery that was left in something that was put into recycling.