JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On Monday afternoon, the Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department (JFRD) reported a fire at the Smurfit Westrock recycling plant on West Beaver Street in Jacksonville’s Mixon Town area.
While most drivers were able to see the tower of smoke created by the fire anywhere around the Jacksonville metro, Pamela Robinson watched it all from a few hundred feet away.
“Fire trucks were coming from this way and that way, I said ‘oh! That’s a real fire!” said Robinson.
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Robinson said she was visiting her godmother, who lives about two blocks away, when JFRD reported the fire around 4:15 PM. Robinson remembers hearing what sounded like an explosion, then seeing a thick tower of black smoke come from the area of the recycling plant.
“We saw all the smoke come up,” Robinson said, “and I’m like, ‘that’s Smurfit! Smurfit is on fire! Smurfit paper company is on fire!”
JFRD said the cause of the fire, at this point, is unclear. JFRD told us the fire started in the main production building of the Smurfit Westrock plant, believing that somewhere between 5-10 employees to have been around at the time. JFRD said the fire burned through almost entirely paper products, rather than any other materials on site, but doesn’t believe any faulty equipment or employees inside started the fire.
JFRD said the fire grew quickly because of the wind and dry weather conditions.
“It’s just like what we’ve been seeing with the brush fires,” said JFRD District Chief A.W. Bebernitz, “the odds were stacked against our firefighters as they arrived on scene.”
JFRD said no one was hurt because of the fire and, at this time, is still determining whether it will investigate the fire or if that will be left up to the state fire marshal. JFRD has reported about 11 other building fires like this already this year and reported a total of 108 commercial building fires in 2025.
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