Jersey City scrap yard fire blows black smoke for miles

JERSEY CITY — A fire at a scrap metal yard sent thick black smoke into the air on Thursday afternoon.

Both ground and marine units, including from the New York Fire Department, responded to Sims Metal Management on Linden Avenue East in an industrial section south of the Greenville section. The fire erupted about 4:30 p.m., according ABC 7 Eyewitness News.

The fire is also filling the air with a chemical smell, according to Hoboken police Chief Ken Ferrante. The New York City Office of Emergency Management also issued a warning about the smell.

The yard is located along the New Jersey Turnpike's Hudson Bay Extension, causing some rubbernecking delays. Winds from the southeast are blowing the thick black smoke toward the Meadowlands, according to New Jersey 101.5 Meteorologist Dan Zarrow.

Video showed a crane was removing smoldering metal from the main fire and placing it on a belt. On NBC New York video footage, employees could be seen alongside firefighters trying to put out the fire.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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