A Gastonia business owner said the city’s firefighters were to be commended for a quick response to a small fire Monday.
Craig Hafner, who owns the recycling business Block D Metals on Boxwood Lane, said firefighters were on the way to the business before employees there had time to make a call for help.
A driver passing nearby on I-85 saw smoke escaping from the building Monday afternoon and alerted authorities.
Hafner said an employee was using a grinder, which threw sparks onto nearby containers of metal pieces and the pallets on which they were sitting. The wooden pallets caught fire and fire also smoldered in the metal pieces, according to Hafner.
Firefighters removed 10 buckets of smoldering metal and put out the fire, using sand to smother the threat.
“The Gastonia Fire Department is about the best I’ve ever seen,” said Hafner, who added the company had no injuries and didn’t lose any materials.