WEST PARIS — A fire at West Paris Metals last week is being ruled accidental by the State Fire Marshal’s Office, but the cause has not been determined.
Although investigators were unable to find out what started the fire, sparks from cutting apart pieces of scrap metal at the yard has been ruled out as a cause, fire Chief Norm St. Pierre said.
Fire crews were called to the Maple Street scrap metal yard shortly before 5 p.m. Nov. 5. A fire on a 10- by 12-foot pile of trash, mainly cardboard, plastic and tires, near the yard’s entrance, was quickly extinguished by firefighters.
In August, an inferno at yard torched more than 40 scrap metal cars at the junkyard. The fire was caused by sparks from an employee cutting apart cars at the yard.
Following the August blaze, St. Pierre and selectmen issued owner Ernie Yap safety guidelines to prevent similar fires.
On Tuesday, St. Pierre said Yap was complying with the safety guidelines and a cleanup of the yard to reduce fire hazards was ongoing.
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