Huge Black Smoke Plume Rises From Kingston Scrap Metal Yard Fire

A towering column of black and gray smoke rose over Kingston, Ontario, as a fire tore through a pile of materials at a steel and scrap metal yard on Thursday morning, October 22.

X user Devin Stewart filmed the plume from the Utilities Kingston parking lot at 9:34 a.m., sharing a “view of the fire at Kimco” and saying they hoped everyone was okay. The video shows the thick smoke billowing high above trees and power lines as parked cars and vans sit in the sunny lot below.

Kingston Fire & Rescue said it was called to a reported structure fire at Kimco Steel on John Counter Boulevard at around 8:40 a.m. About 18 fire trucks and 75 firefighters responded, including crews from Loyalist Township and South Frontenac. The fire started in an outdoor pile of materials, and firefighters worked with excavators to pull the pile apart and put out hot spots.

Several schools kept students indoors because of the smoke until 2 p.m., and health officials urged people to stay inside and close their windows and doors. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire has not been announced.

Kingston Fire & Rescue said it was aware of public concern over repeated fires at the site, adding that it had already found fire safety problems at the property and ordered the owner to fix them before Thursday’s blaze.