Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that the Department of Environmental Conservation claimed on Oct. 28 that there would be no long-term environmental effects from a massive scrapyard fire the day before at the Port of Coeymans. An air quality warning was issued for Columbia County on October 27, because of smoke from the large scrap metal fire at Eastern Metal Recycling. The fire department in Hudson was dispatched to Columbia Memorial hospital because of the smell of smoke, which turned out to be from the Coeymans fire. “DEC coordinated with state and local fire crews to monitor the scene and contain runoff from firefighting efforts,” a DEC statement read. “No long-term impacts to the environment are anticipated.” The Town of Coeymans released its own statement, explaining how officials thought the fire began. “The fire started in a scrap metal pile consisting of crushed cars, appliances, and light scrap metal. It is suspected that a battery in one of the crushed cars had shorted and started the fire. The fire originated deep in the scrap pile and spread throughout the pile. There was not any activity in the area at the time of the fire, no hot work or welding,” the statement said. Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.