Raleigh officials say recycling site fire caused no environmental damage

The smoke from a southeast Raleigh recycling fire raised the first question neighbors had: was anything dangerous in the air or water, and who was at risk? City officials now say the fire off Garner Road does not appear to have caused environmental damage, after stormwater crews checked the site and found no runoff or contamination in nearby streams.

Raleigh Fire crews responded around 1:40 a.m. to 1:45 a.m. Saturday at the recycling facility on the 2300 block of Garner Road, near Foss Recycling, and sent 10 units to the scene. The fire involved an outdoor debris pile about the size of a football field, and the smell of burning electrical products spread across the Garner area. Crews stayed on scene until about 4 p.m. Saturday to make sure the fire was fully extinguished, while the Town of Garner also had crews at the site that morning.

Raleigh Fire Battalion Chief Richard Siebel said the inspection did not show evidence of runoff or stream contamination. Raleigh stormwater crews also spoke with representatives from Foss Recycling and said they would continue to assess the fire’s environmental impact, which is the part of the response that matters most for nearby homes and businesses worried about what settled in the soil, drainage ditches, or creeks.

The location helps explain why so many people noticed it. The fire was visible and smelled from parts of southeast Raleigh and Garner, including areas near Lake Benson, and the early response closed Garner Road between Newcombe Road and Chris Street. That added to the confusion created by a separate overnight fire at Liberty Waste Solutions on Gresham Lake Road, which local media described as a mulch fire. For residents tracking both scenes, the smoke appeared linked even though officials were dealing with two different incidents.

The city’s stormwater program says it is responsible for protecting water resources and aquatic life, preventing stormwater pollution, and managing flooding. That is the framework now guiding the follow-up in southeast Raleigh, where officials are watching for any lingering signs of contamination after the flames are out. Raleigh Fire Department, which handles about 50,000 calls for service a year, treated the blaze as another fast-moving industrial emergency, but the first environmental review left city officials with no immediate evidence of damage.