Demolition work consisting of cutting with torches was the cause of a fire at a metal recycling facility on Monday, according to the Madison Fire Department.
Spokesperson Cynthia Schuster said firefighters were called to Alter Metal Recycling, 4400 Sycamore Avenue, for a reported structure fire in an outbuilding separate from the main recycling facility.
The one-story building made of concrete slab was connected to a shearing machine. Firefighters saw that the majority of the fire was located on the hydraulic lines that exited the pump room and ran to the shearing machine.
Crews immediately began to extinguish the active fire found on the hydraulic lines. Once the hydraulic lines were cooled off, firefighters went to the pump room to check for additional fire, Schuster said. There, firefighters encountered thick black smoke.