by Mindy Aguon

Guam - For the second time in six months, the Guam Fire Department and Guam Environmental Protection Agency were called to a major fire at a Dededo recycling company. Officials are trying to determine what caused the blaze and whether the company is following the rules for storing the materials it collects.

Local and federal firefighters spent almost six hours trying to secure a blaze that broke out at the Global Recycling Center in Dededo just before 2:30 Monday morning. GFD spokesperson Kevin Reilly says firefighters from the Dededo, Astumbo, and Yigo fire stations responded to the blaze but they soon realized they were going to need some help, telling KUAM News, "About half an hour into the fire, we requested mutual aid from Andersen Fire and they supplied us with a tanker truck."

"The fire was secured at about four o'clock, however, that just means we have it under control but actually we had it secured at eight o'clock totally. So for about six hours the guys were fighting trying to put it out," Reilly said.

A portion of the recycling company's compound was bright orange as firefighters tried to extinguish the growing flames from the burning appliances and metal. "When you deal with dump fires a lot of the problem is its deep-seeded. We had the recycling company bring in their guys and provide excavators to remove layers upon layers of the metal and the garbage in order to get deep into it to put out the fire down below," the spokesman added.

Fire investigators spent much of the morning going through the burned rubble as they try to determine what caused the blaze. It's an answer the Guam Environmental Protection Agency is anxious to know the answer to considering this is the second fire reported at the recycling center in the last six months. as we reported last September, a blaze broke out while UESPA officials were on site. The cause of the fire was never determined but the company was cleared as officials determined they were in compliance with the rules and regulations.

Guam EPA administrator Eric Palacios said, "It definitely raised some eyebrows within the agency with me as well, because other than a truly criminal aspect, arson, I don't see and my team doesn't see how a blaze could erupt. I mean, it was early morning. There's no ignition source."

Palacios says his staff estimate that at least one ton of white goods and other waste was burned during the blaze and a review is underway to determine exactly what waste was in the fire, adding, 'At this point and time we will be working with the Guam Fire Department and any other agencies that are investigating the cause of the fire."

Part of the investigation is to determine if the fire was intentionally set or whether the blaze started from another source. Either way, part of the Guam EPA's review will be whether the company needs to make changes to how they store the waste they collect to prevent any future fires from occurring.