As firefighters and their vehicles remained on the scene and smoke continued to stream out of the building into the early afternoon, Tyner urged everyone to “stay out of the way of 2nd Street and Broadway.”

West Broadway and Washington Avenue were shut down to traffic in that area, and the exit ramp from westbound Interstate 94 to those roads has been closed to keep keep vehicles from getting too close to the fire, Tyner said.

There’s no initial word yet on what sparked the blaze. Inquiries to the company about the blaze were referred to President Steve Ettinger, who has yet to respond to messages.

Northern Metal Recycling bills itself as “the Upper Midwest’s leading metal recycler,” with operations in Wisconsin, North Dakota and Minneapolis, where it’s headquartered. Its website says the company is “committed to the highest level of environmental responsibility, best-practices plant operations and quality customer service.”