(Credit: Two Idiots Buffing/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091821313580)
Firefighters from Bucks, Montgomery and Lehigh counties are on scene Tuesday night battling a three-alarm blaze at Gladiator Recycling on Heller Road in Richland Township in Upper Bucks County.
The fire was dispatched around 10:10 p.m. at the recycling facility at 1000-1010 Heller Road at Quakertown Trade Center. Initial reports indicated a water flow alarm, but crews arrived to find a working fire involving large cardboard and trash piles inside the plant.
The sprinkler system was reported as not holding the fire, prompting a second alarm and additional resources to secure water supply and assist with suppression efforts, according to Bucks County emergency dispatch reports.
The facility, which operates a 125,000-square-foot commercial recycling plant serving more than 60 municipalities, is located just north of Quakertown Borough.
Fire departments from Quakertown, West End, Milford Township and Trumbauersville are on scene, along with additional cover companies and St. Luke’s Emergency & Transport Services. Additional Rapid Intervention Teams -- standby rescuers -- have been called to the scene.
As of 10:22 p.m., crews continue to work the scene. Interior reports were of a 15-foot-high by 15-foot-wide pile of trash on fire that needed to be pulled apart.
North Penn Goodwill Service is also en route to the scene, as of 10:45 p.m.
As of 10:51 p.m., there were four RIT companies and four aerials in use, plus multiple agencies working the interior. There was also a request for Point Pleasant Fire Co. for a fan boat for ventilation of smoke from the building, as well as two additional engines and a tower truck by 11 p.m.
There is no immediate word on injuries or the cause of the fire.
According to a January 2024 Facebook post from Elevate Construction Partnership, construction of the warehouse at 1010 Heller Road was nearing completion, following a June 2023 groundbreaking.
Quakertown Trade Center is a 100,984-square-foot building with 40-foot clear, 19 dock doors, 2 drive-ins, 3,000 amps of power and 2,400 square feet of office space, per the Facebook post.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
