Mulch fire at Hoffman Estates recycling plant remains a mystery

The cause of Sunday's mulch pile fire at a Hoffman Estates recycling plant may never be determined, but the village's fire chief had suggestions on how to reduce future fires.

Hoffman Estates Fire Chief Robert Gorvett said his department has yet to speak with any officials from Midwest Material Management.

Firefighters on Sunday afternoon used more than 500,000 gallons of water to extinguish a mulch fire that broke out shortly before 2:30 p.m. at the plant off Higgins Road, between Beverly Road and Route 25.

The mulch pile was about 100-feet tall and 100-feet wide, Gorvett said. Crews needed to use earth-moving equipment to help get the blaze under control, Gorvett added.

Midwest grinds up materials like wood pallets, concrete, dry wall and roofing materials for recycling purposes, Gorvett said, and officials estimate about $600,000 in damage - mostly to mulching equipment that was on site when the fire started.

Gorvett said the fire may have ignited from spontaneous combustion, as it remains unclear what set off the blaze. He did say reducing the size of the pile and spreading out the distance between piles would lower the chances of future fires.

"We would like them to limit the size of the piles and have greater space between each pile," Gorvett said.

This wasn't the first fire at Midwest, Gorvett added. Earlier this year, crews put out a tire fire at the plant, Gorvett said. Firefighters had to bury the rubber in sand to get that blaze under control.

Since there are no fire hydrants in that area of town, Gorvett said firefighters used about a half mile of hoses from a relay pump off Beverly Road to bring water to the fire.

A call was made to Midwest for comment, but their offices had already closed for the day.