Concord Firefighters Sent To Wheelabrator Incinerator Fire: Video

CONCORD, NH — Concord firefighters spent nearly three hours battling a blaze inside the Wheelabrator incinerator on Whitney Road in Penacook on Wednesday.

Fire and rescue teams were called to the incinerator just after 12:15 p.m. for a report of a fire. A full battalion of firefighters was sent to the warehouse building where trash was on fire.

Concord Fire Chief Sean Brown said the process of battling the fire inside the warehouse can be “at times, a little complex,” due to the level of trash. He said the warehouse has overhead cranes that grab the trash and put it into a system that feeds the incinerator. The fire was in the piles of trash.

Brown said the cause of the fire was unknown and the department would probably not know due to the hazard of trying to investigate through all of the trash. He said he may have started inside or started due to a trash truck dumping items that were burning inside of the truck.

“It’s a pretty dangerous and dirty operation in there,” he said. “Really, stabilizing the incident, and getting the plant to function again, is the goal.”

Regional firefighters and EMTs were in the city assisting with fire alarm and ambulatory services calls while firefighters were at Wheelabrator.

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