IN - Recycling plant fire, widespread toxic smoke, evacuations - Richmond, 11 Apr 2023

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This is making news worldwide. Started in a semi-trailer at about 3 pm (1500 hours).
An evacuation order affecting more than 1,000 people remained in place Wednesday night around a large industrial fire in an Indiana city near the Ohio border where crews worked to douse piles of burning plastics.

Multiple fires that began burning Tuesday afternoon were still burning within about 14 acres of various types of plastics stored inside and outside buildings at a former factory site in Richmond, 70 miles (113 kilometers) east of Indianapolis, Fire Chief Tim Brown said.

He said the fire was contained but not under control. Brown said his goal was to finish dousing flames by Saturday morning but “that’s a guess.”

“We are attempting to put the fire out. We are not letting it burn. Evidently there’s some misinformation out there that we’re letting it burn,” he said.

Between 1,500 and 2,000 people who live within a half-mile (0.8 kilometer) of the plant were told to leave after the fire began, said David Hosick, spokesperson for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.

The evacuation order remained in place Wednesday night. People outside the half-mile radius who live downwind of the fire were advised to keep windows closed and pets inside.



The trailer was loaded with an “unknown type of plastics,” and the fire spread to other piles of plastics around the trailer and eventually to the building, Brown said.

Firefighters had trouble getting access to the facility, with piles of plastic blocking access roads, Brown said. “It creates quite a challenge because we only have access to one side of the building,” he added.

“Once the fire got out of control, it darkened down on us, (and) we backed out real quick and then went into defensive mode,” Brown said.

The flames spread to several buildings at the site, but crews managed to stop the fire’s spread before it could jump into residential areas, Brown said.


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  • #2
Fire is out, evacuation order lifted, but asbestos has been detected locally.
Residents near Indiana warehouse fire may have asbestos on their property, EPA says

Federal officials are telling people near the site of an Indiana warehouse fire that broke out last week not to touch any debris they find on their property since it may contain asbestos, a known carcinogen.

"It is essential not to remove or disturb any debris believed to be from the fire as these materials may contain asbestos, a substance that releases microscopic fibers when disturbed," the Environmental Protection Agency said in a fact sheet for local residents posted on Sunday.
 

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