Crane catches fire at Dayton scrap yard

A ruptured hydraulic fuel line caused a crane to catch fire in the Franklin Iron & Metal Co. scrap yard on Wednesday night.

The crane, worth about $575,000 was determined to be a total loss, but firefighters were able to put out the fire before it spread to scrap piles or an adjacent building and propane tanks. The salvaging business is located at 2015 E. First St.

Dayton Fire East District Chief Rennes Bowers said the crane had just been shut down at about 7:15 p.m. when the hydraulic line burst and sprayed fluid onto the hot motor, igniting the fluid.

He said crews took a very aggressive approach to stop the fire from spreading and used foam to control the hydraulic fuel.

Franklin Iron and Metal was the scene of a massive fire in May 2010. Smoke could be seen for miles after a 50-foot pile of 3,000 junk cars caught fire.

“Anytime you respond here you think about the big fire that burned for a couple days when we had all those cars here,” Bowers said.

No injuries were reported Wednesday night. The business uses multiple cranes to move piles of salvaged metal.

A HAZMAT crew was called to clean up fuel that was spilled.

“We had 20 to 30 gallons, approximately, of hydraulic fluid on the ground,” Bowers said.