CAYCE, SC (WIS) -
The owners of a recycling plant in Cayce do not have insurance to help pay for the damages caused by Friday morning's destructive fire.
Just hours after the flaming remnants of World Wide Recycling were finally doused, crews are now cleaning up at the site of the once billowing blaze.
The hum of heavy equipment has replaced the string of fire trucks and clouds of smoke at the Foreman Road plant. Hepaco of Charlotte was hired to lift mountains of contaminated debris that ultimately helped extinguish the flames.
"They have some specialized equipment that nobody in public agencies in South Carolina have, so they were recommended to us by DHEC," said Cayce Mayor Elise Partin.
Hepaco's contract comes with 17 pages of costs for each piece of equipment, estimated around $500,000, depending on how long the clean up takes. Add in all the resources, overtime, supplies, and that's a big bill for Cayce that may ultimately be paid by taxpayers.
"These aren't the kind of things you typically budget for," Partin said. "You don't know what kind of scale you're going to run into with those types of issues."
At least, World Wide Recycling could face penalties for not applying for a burn permit. Workers told the city they were burning pallets behind the business when the fire got out of hand.
In 2006, Cayce adopted the International Fire Code. Officials are now determining if the company violated those codes by not having proper fire suppression equipment.
"You want to follow regulations in those situations and make sure that your people are not exposed to extreme temperature for too long, so they usually spend 15 minutes on it then rotate off for 45 or so," Partin said.
Lt. Jeff Simmons with the Cayce Department of Public Safety said about 30 fire departments and emergency agencies from throughout South Carolina responded to the fire.
The blaze ranks in the top three largest fires the City of Cayce has seen in the last 25 years.
Ten firefighters were treated for heat. Cayce officials say they'll go after any and all partners to lessen the burden on the taxpayers. They're also asking the state for help.
"We have gone to our county and asked for that assistance, and they'll put in the request to the state," Partin said.
Over the last 2 years, council had purchased a new fire truck and equipment which the Mayor says made a positive difference in the firefighters' response.
According to public safety officials, this investigation is far from over.
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