Lighting strike caused large fire at Evergreen Recycle in Park City
Authorities say lightning caused a large fire at Evergreen Recycle in Park City on Wednesday night
By KAKE News Staff
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PARK CITY, Kansas (KAKE) — Authorities say lightning caused a large fire at Evergreen Recycle in Park City on Wednesday night, and crews were still working Thursday to get the fire out.
Firefighters responded at around 10:45 p.m. to the report of a fire at the facility near 53rd Street and Broadway Avenue. Sedgwick County Fire Marshal Brad Crisp said crews arrived to find a significant fire burning in a 100-by-100-foot wood pile. The person who called 911 reported hearing a loud boom consistent with a lightning strike just before discovering the fire.
Crews from Sedgwick County and the Wichita Fire Department we able to keep the fire contained. Fire Marshal Crisp said in a briefing just before 10 a.m. that crews were working with the facility to get the fire out. Around 20 firefighters remained on scene and were expected to be at the scene throughout the day.
“We anticipate it’s going to take about 12 to 24 hours to be able to get this thing completely put out,” Crisp said, “And that’s using about 20 firefighters.”
Sedgwick County Fire District 1 said Thursday afternoon that the fire was still smoldering but contained.
A county spokesperson confirmed that a lightning strike caused the fire. There were no reports of injuries.
The Salvation Army was also at Evergreen Recycle on Thursday to keep the firefighters fed and hydrated.
The last large fire at Evergreen Recycle happened in June 2024. A fire there in October 2022 led investigators to find code violations. Both of those fires burned for days.
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