Fire under control at Royal Oak Recycling facility in Cleveland

Bales of old corrugated containers (OCC) caught fire Wednesday afternoon at a Royal Oak Recycling facility in Cleveland, a report by Cleveland.com says.

The fire started after 1 p.m. May 30 at Royal Oak Recycling on Industrial Lane near West 160th Street and Industrial Parkway in Cleveland, fire department spokesman Lt. Mike Norman told the news and information website.

Fire investigators say they think a piece of paper that became stuck in a forklift caught fire, the report says, causing the fire to spread to bales of OCC. Flames were mostly contained to the exterior of the Royal Oak Recycling building, and caused some damage inside the recycling center, Norman said, according to Cleveland.com.

“Water is causing the bales to collapse, so crews are using skid-steer loaders to sift through the debris,” according to the report, citing Norman.

He told Cleveland.com that temperatures near 85 degrees caused Cleveland EMS to transport two firefighters to area hospitals for treatment. A third firefighter was evaluated at the scene but cleared to return to duty, he said.

The fire was under control after 3:30 p.m., but firefighters were still working to fully extinguish the flames, Norman told Cleveland.com

Royal Oak Recycling, headquartered in Royal Oak, Michigan, is a commercial recycling company with locations across the Great Lakes and Midwest regions.