No injuries reported in fire at scrapyard in Ship Creek area

The Anchorage Fire Department said no one was injured Tuesday in a fire that ignited outside a scrap metal business in the Ship Creek area, sending a plume of smoke into the sky.

Jodie Hettrick, the department's' deputy chief, said a 911 caller reported the fire at 11:25 a.m.

The fire consumed four shipping containers outside Alaska Scrap and Recycling at 720 E. Whitney Road. The containers were full of oil, diesel and other fuels, Hettrick said.

"That caused a lot of the really heavy black smoke that people saw," Hettrick said. "Those fuels will burn rapidly and they burn really hot, much different than a regular residential fire."

Hettrick said firefighters were careful about how much water they used on the fire to prevent any runoff into Ship Creek.

As a precaution, she said, the fire department alerted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

Firefighters left the scene at 1:47 p.m.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.