by Alex Lloyd Gross
June 1, 2023
Philadelphia firefighters were called to Martin Recycling at 2200 Fraley Street, in the Wissinoming section of the city. When they got there, they were hampered by narrow streets. Not wide enough to get multiple trucks through , to deal with the heavy fire that was showing. As they got closer, they found that several junked cars and tires were on fire.
A second and third alarm was sounded quickly and those companies were told to stage and the apparatus would be advanced as needed. Thick black smoke cause motorists on I-95 to slow down in the area to see what was going on. That caused massive backlogs in both directions near the Bridge Street exit. It was so bad that the Haz-Mat Unit was delayed substantially in their arrival.
Traffic was a headache in the area, as motorists tried to get around. Tacony Street was closed between Fraley and Bridge Street. In the area, curious people made their way to the new Shop Rite store, to get a glimpse of the fire just over the railroad tracks, behind the store. That caused problems for firefighters who used that area to relay water and set up an additional water supply. Cars kept driving by and getting in the way of the hose lay.
The store closed as an abundance of caution. While several firefighters tried to fight the fire from the ground, many others took up operations on adjacent rooftops making sure the fire did not spread and also attacking the blaze with high pressure water streams.
This is one of many junkyard fires that have taken place recently. Air Management Officials have determined that there is no danger to residents. The fire was declared under control about 4:40 PM, with crews remaining on scene through the night. No injuries were reported and the cause has not been determined. The facility was open for business when the fire started, officials said. 
Air Management Services inspectors collected an air sample in the immediate vicinity of the fire before the fire was brought under control. This sample was run through the AMS Lab’s gas chromatography–mass spectrometer. The results of that test showed that no toxic compounds were identified in quantities that would threaten human health.