No Injuries in Joliet Salvage Yard Fire

JOLIET, IL — There were no injuries in a fire at a Joliet salvage yard Thursday afternoon.

According to Lieutenant Stephen Breen, the fire broke out at around 3:15 p.m. at Joliet U-Pull-It & Scrap, located in the 1000 block of E. Washington St.

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“Sounds like they were working on some junk cars with torches,” Breen said. “...Somebody was probably cutting some parts off an old junk car and something caught on fire and made a big show,”

According to Joliet Fire Department Deputy Chief Ray Randich, around 12 to 15 cars caught fire. The cars had been crushed and placed in separate stacks.

"They were in various stages of being scrapped," Randich said. "We had stacks of four cars burning."

The smoke that billowed from the burning cars could be seen for miles from the salvage yard.

The fire was described as a minor one compared to the cost of the damage.

"What's the price of scrap iron times a couple thousand pounds of it," Randich said.