Traffic on Highway 301 North and South was blocked for more than three hours Monday afternoon due to a fire at AllGreen Services on 301 at Akins Anderson Road. It was the second time in the past six months that a fire at AllGreen forced the closure of Highway 301 for several hours.

According to Bulloch County Communications Director Dal Canady, the fire hose needed to put out the fire extended from one side of 301 to the other, which barred traffic from crossing over the hose.

Traffic heading south on 301 was detoured at Highway 46, while vehicles heading north were stopped at Akins Anderson Road, located about two miles north of the 301 exit off Interstate-16.

Canady said Bulloch County Fire Chief Ben Tapley reopened 301 about 4 p.m.

Canady said the Bulloch County Fire Department first received a call about the fire at AllGreen, which is a waste collection and disposal business, about 12:40 p.m. Monday. A fire at AllGreen on May 25 also caused Highway 301 to be closed for more than three hours, as well.

Tapley said fire officials believe the fire may have started in a warehouse that holds solid waste at the company site.

“With all the debris at the site, all it would have taken is a small spark to set a fire off,” Tapley said.

He said the fire caused a great deal of smoke that disrupted traffic initially, but traffic had to be halted due to the necessity of the fire hose crossing 301.

Tapley said three engines from the Bulloch County Fire Department, one engine from the Statesboro Fire Department, a ladder truck, three water tanker trucks and an aerial fire dump were used to finally extinguish the blaze. In all, Tapley said there were 20 Bulloch County and Statesboro firefighters combined at the site.