Rochester Police and Fire Departments responded to the call at 2:58 p.m. Employees evacuated the building and were waiting nearby. Firefighters found the fire to be around a rotating material sorting drum. Crews were able to contain the fire to the material sorting conveyer system. 

Rochester and Wareham EMS transported two employees to Tobey Hospital for smoke inhalation. Their condition is unknown at this time.

 

Firefighters determined that a mechanical failure in the drum’s motor caused the fire. Zero Waste declined to comment on the incident.

 

The company is a recycling facility that sorts, bales and otherwise processes materials collected from curbside recycling — and sends them off to manufacturers in the U.S, Canada, Thailand, Pakistan, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Turkey and (occasionally) China, for reuse.

 

While still under construction, the facility also had a fire in 2016 that delayed its opening until May of this year.