by WorldTribune Staff, August 17, 2023
In 2022, fires at waste and recycling facilities hit an all-time high of 390 incidents in the United States and Canada, according to data from Fire Rover, a fire suppression system company.
In just the first 17 days of August, there have been at least 9 recycling plant fires. What ignited them? Lithium-ion batteries is only one of the unproven theories.
Reported fires at recycling plants this month:
• Aug. 1: Vinton, Texas
• Aug. 3: Jacksonville, Florida
• Aug. 6: Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Aug. 9: Oakland, California
• Aug. 11: Brockton, Massachusetts
• Aug. 11: Houston, Texas
• Aug. 12: Glendale, Arizona
• Aug. 12: Boston, Massachusetts
• Aug. 16: Pensacola, Florida
On April 8, over 2,000 people were ordered to evacuate from an Indiana town after a massive fire broke out at a recycling plant.
Officials issued an evacuation order for all of those within a half mile of the blaze at the plant in Richmond, about 30 miles West of Dayton, Ohio. Local schools canceled all outdoor activities.
“The smoke is definitely toxic,” Steve Jones, the Indiana State Fire Marshall on scene, told Fox 59. “This fire is going to burn for a few days.”
Related: ‘Story gets weirder’: What is it with food plants going up in flames nationwide?, May 5, 2022
In 2022, waste and recycling facility fires caused 56 reported injuries and 2 reported deaths, Ryan Fogelman, a partner at Fire Rover, said during a webinar hosted by the National Waste & Recycling Association.
Fire hazards have always existed at the plants, but why the significant uptick in incidents in the past few years?
Lithium-ion batteries is a good place to start, analysts say. The batteries are a growing fire hazard because of their tendency to ignite when crushed or bent.
In an Aug. 15 analysis, WorldTribune.com columnist Stephen Moore noted that the New York Fire Department has reported 108 lithium-ion battery fires in New York City so far this year, which have injured 66 people and killed 13. According to FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, “There is not a small amount of fire, it (the vehicle) literally explodes.” The resulting fire is “very difficult to extinguish and so it is particularly dangerous.”
Please Support Real Journalism
Last year there were more than 200 fires from batteries from e-bikes, EVs and other devices in New York City.
“We’re starting to see some really serious lithium-ion battery-specific fires,” Fire Rover’s Fogelman said.
In an example, operators of the Seminole County Central Transfer Station in Florida, which experienced a fire in December 2022 that caused almost $500,000 of damage, told local news station WESH that the fire was likely caused by lithium-ion batteries.
But others point to more nefarious reasons.
The recycling plant fires “pose a perfect opportunity for globalists and depopulationists to release other toxins into the atmosphere,” JD Rucker wrote for the Discern Report on Aug. 16. “This is speculation with absolutely zero evidence, but hypothetically if the powers-that-be wanted certain chemicals released into the lower atmosphere then using recycling plant fires spread coast to coast would offer them literal smokescreens to hide their plans.”
After all, Rucker added, “they can’t keep derailing trains or somebody might get suspicious.”
Hello! . . . . Intelligence . . . . Publish
Why? 390 recycling plant fires reported in 2022, 9 in U.S. just this month added by Editor Two on
View all posts by Editor Two →