Here’s what we know about the Tacoma metals recycler where a fire broke out Thursday

The metals recycling facility where a fire broke out Thursday evening, sending a plume of smoke over the Tacoma Tideflats, is part of a 115-year-old company with locations across North America.

Schnitzer Steel Co. was founded by Russian immigrant Sam Schnitzer as Alaska Junk Co. in Portland, Oregon in 1906, according to a history of the company on its website.

It now has metals- and auto-recycling facilities in more than 10 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and British Columbia.

The company arrived in Tacoma in 1995 when it acquired Manufacturing Management Inc., which operated a metals-recycling business and deep-water port at 1902 Marine View Dr., according to the Schnitzer website.

The Tacoma location was site of Schnitzer’s first so-called mega-shredder, which was installed in 2000, the website says.

A number of fires have broken out at the Tacoma site over the years, according to The News Tribune’s archives.

In July 2001, a large blaze erupted in a 40,000-square-foot “mountain of scrap” at the site and burned for three days, emitting a plume of smoke that could be seen from Seattle, the newspaper reported.

Some people who live near the business have complained about noise and other impacts of the operations there.

The company told The News Tribune in 2018 it was taking steps to muffle noise, including adding “sound curtains” and walls around noisy operations.

Schnitzer spokesman Colin Kelly told The News Tribune at the time: “We’ve been part of the Tacoma community for a long time, so we’re committed to being a good neighbor.”