WESTFIELD – A tractor-trailer unit and its load of paper was a total loss late Thursday night after it was engulfed by fire.
City firefighters sent two engines, an ambulance and the tower truck to Ampad Road shortly before midnight after a caller from the Prolamina plant #2 reported the truck was burning in the parking lot there.
The firefighters found a 2012 Freightliner tractor and the attached trailer fully engulfed in flames in the back of the parking lot.
The operator has exited safely but the load of coated paper in the trailer was burning stubbornly as the firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze. Workers at the plant were able to use a forklift to remove some of the large rolls of treated paper from the back of the trailer but the rolls which were out of reach continued to burn until the firefighters were able to reach them.
The firefighters worked for more than two hours before the fire was completely extinguished.
Dep. Chief Andrew Hart reports that the trucker said that he had been smelling something all day but could not find anything amiss but the trucker said that as he pulled into the Prolamina parking lot he found heavy smoke was filling the sleeper compartment and he exited the truck.
The vehicle was found to be a total loss. The value of the truck and trailer was listed at $100,000 while the value of the lost cargo was put at $10,000.
The trucker said that he lost everything he had in the truck.
Department of Environmental protection officials responded to the scene of the fire, possibly because the plastic coating on the paper may have created toxic smoke, but no public health issues were reported.
The DEP inspectors did request that a fire engine return to the company at 8:25 a.m. and Dep. Chief Patrick Kane reports that firefighters doused few stubborn hot spots.
