Fire hits recycling center with rough history

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. (WSBT) - A recycling business in Baugo Township with a rough history was the scene of a wood chip fire late Saturday night.

Firefighters were called to VIM Recycling on Old U.S. 33 around 10:15 p.m., our sister station WSBT reports .

It didn’t take crews long to bring the blaze under control. They left the scene just before midnight.

No injuries were reported. There's no word what started the fire.

VIM drew a lot of unwanted attention in 2007 when an explosion at the site killed a worker. Two years later, another worker lost his life in an industrial accident there.

In 2009, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the state attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit against the owners of VIM, claiming material at the site posed health and environmental risks. An agreement was reached between the company’s owners at that time and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The suit accused the business of illegally dumping wood waste on the company’s grounds because it lacked the proper permits for those operations.

Neighbors claimed fumes from the company were impacting their health since the wood waste the plant processed from Elkhart area manufacturers contained glue and other substances they say could be released into the atmosphere.

VIM grinds waste wood into animal bedding and mulch.

Last year, VIM was bought by new owners.