Fire damages disposal operation

Town and Country Disposal, located north of Harrisonville in Missouri, was damaged by a fire in April. The fire was confined to one building and 21 trucks at the business that were destroyed.

Exploding tires flew 12 feet into the air. The explosions were due to pressurized tires. “We had a large fire and lots of explosions, but nobody got hurt,” said George Poulignot, assistant chief of the Central Cass County Fire Protection District. About 20 firefighters were at the scene.

When they arrived, two other buildings were threatened and the priority was to keep them from catching fire, said Poulignot. Company owner, J. R. Pesek, indicated that even with the extent of the damage, there would be no interruption in service. It was business as usual with replacement trucks already on order.

“The building was in the neighborhood of 80 percent involved,” said Poulignot. Cause of the fire was due to an electrical malfunction.