ST. LOUIS – A large amount of black smoke was coming from Rimco Scrap Metal in north St. Louis Monday morning. The smoke could be seen for miles as it filled the city skyline.
Dozens of firefighters raced to the Near North Riverfront business, located in the 100 block of Bremen Avenue.
Our Bommarito Automotive Group SkyFOX was flying over the scene Monday as firefighters had to block the area as tons of scrap metal burned.
Residents and passersby were caught off guard by the smoke.
“We saw the smoke when we came across the McKinley Bridge and the fire truck and just came over to be nosey to see what we could see,” Jarome Hurn said.
Owner Adam Gubin said the fire was an accident and he’s just glad the fire is now under control and that no one was injured.
“The company started in 1901 with my grandfather with a horse and buggy picking up scrap around the city and the company just evolved from that,” he said. “Today, we had some spontaneous combustion material. We got the fire extinguishers out, did all the procedures that we follow. At that point the oxygen caught, it went up. It was time for us to get out and call the fire department.”
The family-owned business has been in the scrap game for four generations. Gubin said they focus on a safe, efficient, environmentally-friendly process of handling customer’s scrap.
“The fire was not normal. It happens in scarp yards, yes, but for us, it’s not normal,” he said. “No one got hurt, that is all that matters.”
Gubin said his company will recover.
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