The fire was reported around 9:40 a.m. Monday at the J.S. Fesmire Hauling facility in the 5100 block of DarkRun Lane, in the area of Tacony and Van Kirk streets.
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The flames sent a plume of black smoke high into the air.
Some 140 firefighters battled the four-alarm blaze before it was placed under control around 11:20 a.m.
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Company officials say one worker was taken to the hospital with burns to his face. He is expected to be okay.
They believe he was starting up a forklift when an explosion occurred.
No other injuries have been reported.
The company describes itself as an appliance and scrap metal hauling and recycling center.
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"If you think about what appliances are going to burn, you have plastics, and it's going to burn sort of like a junkyard would burn - but inside of a structure," said 1st Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy.
Neighbors say they heard multiple explosions from inside their homes this morning.
"We were actually watching a movie and we heard one big explosion. Came outside, all of a sudden we seen a big cloud of smoke. We heard about five more explosions after that," said Kelly Fries.
"The trucking company is always making noise over here, but then we heard a third explosion - really loud and it shook the houses," said Michelle Osorio. "Everyone was coming out saying 'our houses are shaking.'"
The Philadelphia Dept. of Public Health said it was monitoring air quality and said no specific hazardous substances have been identified.
The cause of this fire is not yet known.