At 4:52am on October 28th, the Rochester Fire Department responded to a fire at Waste Management, Building 8, located at 479 Steele Road.

According to Assistant Chief Tim Wilder, the fire started in the Materials Recovery Facility where Waste Management houses recyclables.

“The fire sprinkler system activated, which helped keep the fire from growing rapidly,” said Wilder. “We called for a Tanker Task Force due to a lack of water supply. We received mutual aid from Somersworth, Dover, Barrington, Strafford, Wakefield, Rollinsford, Pease AFB, and Lebanon, ME.”

There were no workers in the building at the time of the fire and no were injuries reported.

“A large portion of contents that were on fire were moved to the exterior of the building,” Wilder continued. “Waste Management personnel will be working the rest of the day to extinguish the remaining areas of materials that are still on fire.”

The last units cleared the scene just after 11:30am.