What began as an early morning alarm turned into hours of firefighting in DeWitt, New York, when a blaze tore through the Metalico scrap metal recycling facility on Sunday, September 28. Crews from across Onondaga County were called in around 6:30 a.m., battling dense smoke and deep-seated flames in a tangled heap of scrap metal until late morning.
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For residents nearby, the drama unfolded in real time. David Sokolic, who lives just minutes from the yard, woke to the sound of sirens.
“I put the scanner on, and I heard it was down there. Then I came outside around 7:30, 8 o’clock, and you could see smoke all up in here,” he recalled. “Then after a little while, you could smell burning rubber.”
Sokolic drew a comparison to a fire at the same facility more than a decade ago, saying Sunday’s incident lasted longer. “I’d say a good three to four hours. It looked like the Canadian wildfires a few years ago, just a little more dense, a little more darker,” he said.
By mid-day, investigators were pointing to lithium batteries. Metalico’s manager suggested the likely trigger was a battery embedded in a large item such as a scooter, buried within a tin pile. Lithium-ion batteries are increasingly blamed for industrial scrap-yard fires worldwide. In the UK alone, the Environmental Services Association reported in 2021 that nearly 48 per cent of recycling plant fires were caused by lithium batteries — a trend that underscores the risks of improper disposal.
“It’s a deep-seated fire. It’s a large pile, so it smoulders deep within,” said DeWitt Fire Chief Jason Green, explaining that heavy machinery was required to pull apart the mountain of scrap so water could penetrate and douse the flames.
No injuries were reported, and officials emphasised that the fire’s remote location within the yard reduced the risk to neighbouring structures. But Chief Green noted that those same factors likely delayed the fire’s detection. “Because the fire happened outside business hours, there wasn’t much risk to nearby buildings. But that also meant it smouldered before anyone noticed.”
On Monday, September 29, Metalico halted scrap intake from the public while crews continued using excavators to separate and remove charred material, reducing the chance of reignition. Preventive work is expected to continue until the site is declared fully safe.
Metalico has other operations of multiple scrap facilities across New York and Pennsylvania. Metalico recycles both non-ferrous metals like aluminium, copper, brass, and lead, and ferrous metals such as iron and steel, which are magnetic. They also accept specific items like autos, old appliances, and catalytic converters, processing these materials for use in new manufactured goods.
The recycling industry globally is under pressure to tackle rising fire risks tied to the growing stream of lithium-powered devices, from e-scooters to laptops, entering scrap yards. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more than 245 fires at waste facilities across 28 states between 2013 and 2020 were linked to discarded lithium batteries, a number that experts say is likely underreported.
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