Multiple departments responded to Stevens Disposal and Recycling facility fire

Fire heavily damaged a large building at Stevens Disposal & Recycling Service's facility near Petersburg overnight Saturday.

The fire was "probably our largest fire since the infamous 'Downtown Petersburg Fire' in May 2001," the Summerfield Township Fire Department said in a report on Facebook.

Eighteen fire departments and Adrian's fire chief were involved in the effort to extinguish the fire, either at the scene or covering for departments that were at the scene, the Summerfield Township Fire Department said. Several other emergency responders, public works departments and others also assisted.

"Stevens Disposal would like to thank you for the well wishes regarding the fire at our facility," the business said on Facebook. "There were no injuries as we were closed. Thank you to all the first responders for your hard work. All routes will run as schedule."

No firefighters were injured, the fire department said.

The Summerfield Township, Deerfield, Dundee and Ottawa Lake fire departments were dispatched at 9:10 p.m. Saturday to a reported commercial structure fire on the property of Stevens Disposal and Recycling on Ida West Road, Summerfield Township's report said.

While firefighters were en route, "a large column of heavy black smoke was seen for miles and the response was quickly upgraded to a 2nd and 3rd alarm," the report said.

First arriving units discovered a 100-foot by 100-foot transfer station building fully engulfed in fire with several exposures nearby.

Having enough water at the site became an issue, the report said.

"Although hydrants were available in front of the facility, it wasn't enough to keep up with the water flow that was necessary to fight the fire," the fire department said. "Residents along Ida West Rd may have experienced low or no water pressure as a result. 3 additional water sites were established: Herkimer pond east of the scene, Dixon and Wells Rd, and M50 in front of the Toyota Dealership in Dundee."

Summerfield Township Fire Chief Nick Lucas and Assistant Chief Matt LaRocca took command of scene operations, and Assistant Chief R.J. Schall handled water supply operations.

All units left the scene just after 5 a.m.

Summerfield Township thanked the following fire departments that responded and assisted: Summerfield, Deerfield, Dundee, Ida, Whiteford, Ottawa Lake, Erie Township, Milan, London Maybee Raisinville, Exeter, Adrian City Fire Chief Aric Massingill, Ridgeway Township, Raisin Township, Riga, Saline and Pittsfield Township as well as Luna Pier, which responded with an air truck to refill firefighters' air tanks; Monroe Twp, which covered Dundee; and LaSalle, which covered Monroe Township.

Summerfield also thanked local farmer Michael Iott who voluntarily responded with a semi truck that had approximately 6,800 gallons of water on standby in case it was needed.

Several supporting agencies and a business were also recognized for their assistance:

• Monroe County Central Dispatch/911 center.

• Monroe County Sheriff's Office.

• Dundee Police Department.

• Michigan State Police.

• Monroe Community Ambulance.

• American Red Cross for canteen services.

• Crystal Flash for Fuel Truck to fill fire trucks.

• City of Monroe Water Department and Petersburg Department of Public Works that worked on increasing water pressure.

• "And anybody else we may have missed!"

"Thank you to our community and surrounding neighbors for helping us," the fire department said.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Fire strikes Stevens Disposal and Recycling facility in Petersburg