Matthew Fogle
Saturday, March 1, 2014

As a surge in scrap metal recycling continues to grow, Bardstown-Nelson County firefighters are asking citizens to take precautions when preparing motor vehicles for the scrap yard.  Firefighters are noticing that vehicle owners, in order to avoid small monetary penalties at recycling centers, are many times emptying surplus fuel from their vehicles by drilling a hole in the gas tank.

This can cause a damaging result.

“A lot of times a drill, which is metal going against metal, will spark, causing a flame,” said Sgt. Todd Spalding with the Bardstown Fire Department. “Even if there’s not a whole lot of gas in there, the flumes are easily ignited, even more so than the liquid. We recommend that you don’t do that.”

In the past month, the local fire department has been called to two different vehicle fires after the registered owners were making preparations for the scrap yard by drilling a hole into the fuel tank.  On Feb. 4, a van on a trailer became fully engulfed in flames at 160 Springhill Drive.  On Feb. 19, an SUV on a trailer behind 3310 Boston Road sustained major damage after drilling caused sparks, which ignited a fire.

“We recommend you take the vehicle (without emptying the gas) to the scrap metal center,” Spalding said. “They’re the professionals. They have all the equipment to do that. And just take the penalty for taking the vehicle with the fuel. We think that’s the safest way to do it.”

On Thursday, prices paid at Waddell’s Recycling Center on Parrish Boulevard in Bardstown were $220 a ton on vehicles, according to a dry erase board on the building.  A flyer on the window stated that the penalty was a “400-pound deduction” if a hole was not in the gas tank.

According to The World Steel Association, in 2007, the average car contained 2,400 pounds of steel, and the average light truck or SUV 3,000 pounds of the metal.  Therefore, the estimated price paid out on Thursday, at a mean average metal weight of 2,700 pounds (1.35 tons), would be $297.  The penalty for not having a hole in the gas tank would be an estimated $44 deduction.

“It’s not really that much (money) compared to catching yourself on fire,” Spalding said. “And the last two fires, the vehicles were on trailers, so the trailer had damage as well.”

Spalding reminds the community to keep safety as the number one concern, and if you have any questions, call the Bardstown-Nelson County Fire Department at 349-6562.

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