Fire Breaks Out at Japanese Waste Treatment Center

Burned wood and other material ignited at a waste treatment plant Thursday afternoon in Kitakyushu, Japan.

At about 12:30 p.m. the Kitakyushu Fire Department was alerted about black smoke rising from the City Himei Bulk Waste Recycling Center in Kitakyushu’s Kokurakita-ku neighborhood. No injuries were reported, local media reports.

Towering flames soon pierced through the smoke.

Fire authorities report that a blaze broke out near the conveyor belt on the center’s second floor that transports crushed non-combustible waste to the incinerator.

As of 5 p.m. Thursday, the fire was still being fought.

City Himei is the only local facility that can process bulky waste. City officials have stopped accepting it from surrounding communities until a location to temporarily store the waste is found.