The Anchorage Fire Department said no one was injured Tuesday in a fire that ignited outside a scrap metal business in the Ship Creek area, sending a plume of smoke into the sky.
Jodie Hettrick, the department's' deputy chief, said a 911 caller reported the fire at 11:25 a.m.
The fire consumed four shipping containers outside Alaska Scrap and Recycling at 720 E. Whitney Road. The containers were full of oil, diesel and other fuels, Hettrick said.
"That caused a lot of the really heavy black smoke that people saw," Hettrick said. "Those fuels will burn rapidly and they burn really hot, much different than a regular residential fire."
Hettrick said firefighters were careful about how much water they used on the fire to prevent any runoff into Ship Creek.