Fire at Tazewell Va. recycling center sees response from multiple fire departments

TAZEWELL, Va. (WVVA) -On Saturday around 8:15 pm, the Tazewell County 911 Dispatch Center was alerted to a large commercial structure fire at Southwest Sanitation off Route 460. The Tazewell County, Town of Tazewell, and Baptist Valley Fire Departments responded, but soon discovered that the location did not have access to a fire hydrant, meaning all water would have to be brought in on tanker trucks.

“In my career, it’s probably one of the worst fires I’ve been on resource-wise. We just couldn’t have enough water and the manpower; they were doing the best they could. And, with being volunteers, we don’t have the resources that most places have, and we did the best we could do,” says Chief Scott Cornwell with the Tazewell County Fire Department.

To help supply the water, they were joined by the Bluefield Va., Bishop, D.A.D., Clearfork, Abbs Valley, Bandy, Thompson Valley, Richlands, and Rosedale Fire Departments. Despite their effort, they couldn’t stop the destruction of one of the buildings. Barry Brooks, the Public Safety Director and Emergency Management Coordinator for Tazewell County says, in his thirty years of working around fires, this was the second biggest he’s seen. But it could have been worse had they not been there to prevent the fire from spreading to the surrounding buildings.

“One of the buildings was stacked completely full of brand new... tires, and... if that catches fire, we’re dealing with a whole different set of circumstances. You know, we had several bales of carboard boxes. If they catch fire, it’s days of putting those out sometimes...” says Brookes.

Brooks gives credit to the many fire departments involved for their experience in working together. He also thanks the EMS that were there. No injuries were reported, but some firefighters were treated for exhaustion on scene.