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Fire at Cimco Recycling in rural Sterling takes 10 hours to quell

Smoke clouds rise from Cimco Recycling, 13509 Galt Road west of Sterling, around 5 this afternoon. Eighteen fire departments still are covering the fire in one way or another 7 hours after it began around 10:30 a.m. Many roads around the facility were closed for a time because the smoke reduced visibility. No injuries were reported. (Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@shawmedia.com)

By Sauk Valley Media

STERLING – It took firefighters 10 hours Tuesday to extinguish a smoky, smelly fire at Cimco Recycling, 13509 Galt Road west of town.

Eighteen fire departments were involved in battling the fire that began around 10:30 a.m., the Sterling Fire Department said in a news release.

Roads around the facility were closed for a while because of reduced visibility from the smoke.

Crews fight a blaze with a ladder truck Tuesday at Cimco Recycling in Sterling. Thick clouds of smoke reduced visibility and closed down area roads for a time. (Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@shawmedia.com)


No one was injured, and the cause of the fire, which burned mainly in a pile of shredded plastic, is not yet determined.

Cimco, which also has a recycling warehouse on West Fourth Street in Sterling, often sees several fires a year, as do other recyclers that deal with metal-cutting equipment and fluff and old tires that result from tearing down vehicles.

Thick clouds of black and white smoke billow from Cimco Recycling in Sterling as firefighters work to control the blaze. (Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@shawmedia.com)

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