The whole purpose of the mobile shredder operation is to destroy people's personal documents – but not necessarily by fire.
The conclusion of the Westchester County paper-shredding on Saturday on Beekman in Sleepy Hollow was bizarre and intense, as the mobile unit itself caught on fire. The afternoon fire was quickly extinquished by aggressive action from firefighters at the main station just across the street.
Village Administrator Anthony Giaccio said though the county vehicle was fairly new, officials attributed the incident to an electrical fire having nothing to do with the shredding operation, though certainly a truck full of paper combusts fast.
“It was interesting,” said Fire Captain Chris Scelza, describing flames shooting out of the roof of the truck. He said a significant amount of firefighters happened to be in the firehouse having lunch when someone came pounding on the door.
The firefighters took “very aggressive action,” Scelza said, to put the fire out quickly since there was a risk to the house just to the right of the muncipical parking plot. “We really wanted to make sure it was out fast.”
Giaccio said since it happened toward the end of the day, “most everyone got their paper shredded,” adding, “look on the bright side: everyone's documents got destroyed.”
The Village hosts two shredding operations each year, "so we'll do it again," said Giaccio.
