A fire at a recycling center has closed a major thoroughfare in Fredericksburg.
Blue and Gray Parkway is closed between the Stafford County line and Lafayette Boulevard and Belman Road due to a massive fire at a recycling plant just off Belman Road.
All traffic is being diverted away from the area, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation, while city fire crews work to douse the blaze.
Update from Fredericksburg fire chief Mike Jones:
The Fredericksburg Fire Department had a fire today at 1123 Summit Street (Summit Recycling Center) in Fredericksburg.
The call came in just before 10 am and units arrived shortly thereafter. First arriving fire units found a fire in a large pile of crushed automobiles that were being processed as scrap metal. The pile was at least 20 ft. tall and 75 ft. wide and 75 ft. Deep.
The fire was involving about half that pile with a large smoke plume. Fire units from Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania Counties worked for the better part of three hours to extinguish the blaze.
A large excavator from the business was also used to help separate the burning vehicles from the pile.
The Blue-Gray Parkway ( VA Rt. 3) was shut down over an hour while hose lines were street from a water source to help quell the flames. No firefighter or civilian injuries or deaths occurred.
Water runoff from the site was evaluated and several containment systems were put in place in Hazel Run (a tributary of the Rappahannock River). No hazardous product reached the river.
Those containment systems will be checked over the next several days and any product found will be mitigated. All units are no back in service.
Around 1,000 feet of fire hose was damaged and will most likely have to be replaced.
