Company cites lithium-ion battery as cause of major Camden blaze that spurred 100 families to evacuate

A metal recycling company said Saturday that a “wrongly delivered” lithium-ion battery is the suspected cause of a four-alarm fire in Camden that resulted in the voluntary evacuation of 100 families.

In a statement, EMR said the battery, “undetectably concealed within scrap metal,” sparked the blaze at the company’s shredding facility at 1400 Front St.

“EMR does not recycle — and has never recycled — lithium-ion batteries,“ the company said. ”We expressly prohibit scrap metal suppliers from delivering them to us."

According to the company, the fire began about 5 p.m. Friday and “within seconds” a team of workers there began battling the fire. Firefighters from Camden City arrived within minutes, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection was notified.

The statement said the fire was brought under control at 1:15 a.m. Saturday.

Although there were no injuries, “the site suffered extensive damage and will require significant repairs,” EMR said.

“This lithium-ion battery fueled fire and the hundreds of others proliferating recently at metal recycling facilities across the country should be viewed as an immediate call to action for federal and state lawmakers,” the statement said. “EMR and the recycling industry have consistently appealed for the regulation of these lethal devices but to no avail.”

Earlier in the day, officials and residents expressed outrage over the fire, whose flames and smoke could be seen from neighborhoods across the river in Philadelphia as officials issued a voluntary shelter-in-place recommendation.

Officials said it was one of a number of fires at the facility over the last several years.

The shelter-in-place request was lifted noon Saturday. About 100 families voluntarily evacuated, and EMR paid for hotel rooms and meals.

Vincent Basara, a Camden City spokesperson, said up to eight fire departments responded to the fire.

Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen called it a “terrible fire” that burned next to the Bergen Square and Waterfront South neighborhoods, but noted that no one was injured.

“I wanted to thank all of our first responders who tirelessly worked to keep the city and region safe,” Carstarphen said in a statement.

Initially, Camden residents were asked to voluntarily remain in their homes. Some took up an offer by EMR to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn in Camden or the DoubleTree by Hilton in Cherry Hill.

Officials and residents have been stewing about EMR for years, citing the other fires and conditions around the property.

“We will not sit idly by while city, county, state, and federal resources are utilized to put out this junkyard fire and our first responders are in harm’s way bringing it under control,” Camden County Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr. said Saturday afternoon.

He noted that the three-stories-high fire sent a smoke plume that blanketed not only the city, but the region.

“It was appalling that residents did not feel safe in their own neighborhood, based on the thick smoke that enveloped the city and could be seen as far as 15 miles away,” Cappelli said. “This kind of fire can never happen again at EMR, and we are going to ensure it never does.”

Cappelli said the county will speak with the New Jersey DEP and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “to make our community the number-one priority when it comes to the operation at EMR.”

As of Saturday afternoon, he said, the city’s fire department was still putting out spots “20 hours later.”

“This is by far and away the worst fire that has occurred on this site, and we want to make sure it is the last,“ Cappelli said.

The EPA and the DEP were both at the scene and testing the air for pollution Friday into Saturday. The heaviest fire was between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. Friday, when particulate matter was detected.

Though the air appeared clear Saturday morning, according to Camden County spokesperson Dan Keashen, the shelter-in-place request remained until noon, when additional EPA testing confirmed the air was safe to breathe.

Jordan Mead, who lives a few blocks from EMR, said he is concerned about potential pollution and the danger posed to first responders, as well as the cost to the city. He said he counted 40 first responder vehicles at the scene.

“Last year, the firefighters union was posting about how they’re short on equipment,” Mead said.

Jon Compton, executive director of the Center for Environmental Transformation, said he has documented six fires at EMR since 2016. He estimates the company occupies at least 100 acres. His center filed an intent to sue the state in 2022 to force New Jersey to regulate EMR more fully. The center, however, has not yet filed the suit.

Compton said Friday night’s fire was the fourth at EMR since 2021. The latest fire nearest to the equivalent of this one, he said, occurred in January 2021.

“The repeat fires is definitely very concerning, and irritating to residents,” Compton said. “EMR is a vast, 100-acre wasteland, and it’s a difficult neighbor to contend with.”

The U.K.-based EMR has its U.S. headquarters in Camden, and its scrap metal recycling operation sprawls for blocks across the waterfront. The company specializes in recycling autos and boats. It bundles scrap for bulk sales.

EMR purchased Camden Iron & Metal in 2008. It also owns MyAutoStore, which sells used auto parts.

In 2015, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) approved $253 million in tax incentives over 10 years for EMR Eastern LLC to build out the Camden facility. The company’s CEO, Joe Balzano, is the son of Joseph A. Balzano, who ran the South Jersey Port Corp. for decades and died in 2011.

According to a 2023 permit with the DEP, EMR operates a metal shredder and has a scrubber installed to remove pollutants. The operations emit some chemicals, such as tetrachloroethane and trichloroethane, but in amounts under allowable limits.

Those operations include the ability to shred and magnetically separate 440 tons per hour of products such as automobiles and appliances to produce steel and iron that gets used in steel mills and foundries worldwide.

It also processes other nonmetal products, such as plastic, cloth, glass, and dirt.