WEST PARIS — The State Fire Marshal’s Office is still investigating the cause of a fire at West Paris Metals on Tuesday, according to West Paris Fire Chief Norm St. Pierre. 

Investigators are not ruling out the possibility that someone could have entered the yard and started the fire, which was reported about an hour after employees left for the day, St. Pierre said.

“Right now, they’re just looking into a few leads, a few things that might have occurred,” he said Wednesday evening. 

Firefighters from West Paris and Paris responded to the Maple Street scrap metal yard shortly before 5 p.m. on Tuesday for a fire burning near the yard’s entrance. 

Crews quickly had the fire, consisting of burning cardboard, plastic and some tires, extinguished and were dousing the 10- by 12-foot area with flame-suppressing foam at around 5:30 p.m.

On Tuesday, St. Pierre said employees were cutting metal near the area of the fire that day, but it could not be determined if sparks from the work ignited the fire. 

He said the yard’s owner, Ernie Yap, does not have a gate at the entrance to the yard that might prevent unauthorized people from entering the property.

The Maple Street scrap metal yard was the scene of an intense blaze in August, which torched more than 40 junked cars. Firefighters took nearly five hours putting out that fire, which was ignited when sparks from cutting a vehicle spread to nearby scrap cars.

Following the incident, St. Pierre and West Paris selectmen asked Yap to make a number of safety improvements to his yard to help prevent future fires. St. Pierre has since reported to selectmen that Yap has made sincere efforts to clean up the yard and comply with the selectmen’s requirements. 

Last month, selectmen approved Yap’s junkyard permit after inspecting the yard.

On Wednesday, St. Pierre said investigators may have more information about the fire later this week. Attempts to contact Yap and an investigator from the Fire Marshall’s Office were unsuccessful Wednesday afternoon. 

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