Scrap fire briefly sends smoke plume above Tarentum

A scrap fire in Tarentum briefly billowed plumes of black smoke above the Allegheny River on Tuesday afternoon near the Tarentum Bridge.

The blaze, reported just before 3 p.m., appeared to be in a metal scrap yard owned by PJ Greco Sons Inc. Fire crews extinguished most of it within minutes.

Before crews arrived, someone appeared to be using heavy construction equipment to move scrap away from the fire. The smoke was visible from the Route 28 expressway and across the river in Lower Burrell and New Kensington.

Allegheny County 911 dispatchers said no one was transported from the scene.

The cause of the blaze remains unclear.