Early morning fire at Hamilton’s GFL Environmental causes minimal damage

Hamilton Fire Department responded to a fire at GFL Environmental early Monday morning.

Firefighters say they were dispatched to 52 Imperial St. at around 2 a.m. and observed heavy smoke coming from the building at the southwest corner of the property.

Hamilton Fire Chief Dave Cunliffe says a sprinkler system had the fire under control when crews arrived at the area.

“There was a fire fault found on a pallet that contained four 45 gallon drums that had various batteries in them,” said Cunliffe. “There was an employee in the factory, or the storage facility at the time that was sorting batteries, so the fire there was very quickly put out.”

Authorities say a pallet of 45-gallon metal drums was located and the fire was able to be controlled with no reported injuries and minimal damage.

“The fire is not suspicious,” said Cunliffe. “It was part of the recycling. Sometimes if batteries get damaged, or they get put together, you can get a fire.”

“In fact, if you read the instructions on the disposal of batteries, whether they be A’s or whatever type of battery, it will tell you to dispose of them properly and not have them touch,” said Cunliffe.

The chief also said smoke is dangerous no matter where it comes from — either from batteries or some other source, you don’t want to breathe it in.

GFL Environmental is now working to clean up after the fire.

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