ROGERS, Ark. — On day two of the Marck Industries fire in Rogers, crews utilized heavy machinery to fight deep-seated fires with more days estimated in the fight.
Rogers Deputy Chief Dusty Qualls said they got a call for a reported grass fire around 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday. When their first fire engine arrived, they saw a quickly moving debris fire that was wind-driven, which caught one of the buildings on fire. The deputy chief said 15 agencies from around Northwest Arkansas assisted in the fire.
On Thursday, the fire continued at Marck Industries as Qualls said they'd moved into the overhaul process.
"We've created a fire line around the whole facility containing what had been on fire. We got large equipment on site trying to help us get to the consolidated areas where the fire is. There are large trailers back there, large bales of plastic and cardboard that we're trying to get those deep-seated fires put out right now," Qualls said.
The fire is estimated to continue for a few more days with no exact timeline given by Rogers fire. They said residents could expect more smoke as it continues to burn in the next few days until they can "100% get it put out."
Mike Dehart owns Pig Trail Welding, one of the nearby businesses.
"We really didn't notice until we started hearing explosions, and obviously the smoke just took off," Dehart said.
Dehart said he'd walked out of his Rogers shop hearing explosions and seeing smoke fill the sky.
"People should be concerned about any type of smoke. Unfortunately, this smoke is a little bit more toxic due to the materials that are burned. So if they can avoid it, avoid it at all cost," Qualls said.
The Rogers Fire Department told 5NEWS that most of the materials burning are paper and plastic. It's concerning for neighbors as the smoke clouds fill their forests and ash rains down on their properties.
Issac Arce with Five Star Automotive said the fire made the air smell bad through Thursday. He came back to work though, explaining that "you can't really smell it here, but done down there, you can smell it."
"I went the back way, took the dirt roads over here. I didn't want to drive through and be a nuisance to the fire department that's still up here working, and all we can do is just go to work," Dehart said.
Five Star Automotive and Pig Trail Welding sit just east of the fire. While they said the wind had been in their favor, dry conditions and the forest between their properties had them checking on their shops throughout the day.
"I thought it was going to come over here. We have a bigger pile of trees over here, so I was hoping that nothing came over here," Arce said.
5NEWS reached out to Marck Industries and the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment regarding health and environmental concerns. They had not responded as of Thursday, but reporters for 5NEWS did observe officials on site.
Watch 5NEWS on YouTube.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com and detail which story you're referring to.