Huge fire at Indiana plastics warehouse forces hundreds from homes

An evacuation order affecting up to 2,000 people is expected to remain in place until Wednesday around a large industrial fire in an Indiana town near the Ohio border where crews worked through the night to douse burning piles of plastic, authorities said.

Multiple fires, which started burning Tuesday afternoon, continued to burn Wednesday morning in about 14 hectares of various types of plastic stored both inside and outside the building at the former factory site in Richmond, 113 kilometers east of Indianapolis, Richmond Fire Chief Tim Brown said.

“There’s plastic inside the building, there’s plastic outside the building, there’s plastic in the semi-trailer that’s all over the grounds here in the Complex, so we’re dealing with many types of plastic. It’s a mess,” said Brown.

Brown said a plume of smoke continued to rise Wednesday from the site and about 15 firefighters remained in place overnight working to fight the fire, which he said was at the site of an old factory.

He said the fire was “out of control by any means” but he was optimistic crews would make progress Wednesday. “We are waiting for daylight so we can aggressively put out the fire,” he said.

Between 1,500 and 2,000 people living within a 0.8 kilometer radius of the plant were told to leave after the fire started, said David Hosick, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. Brown, the fire chief, said it was unclear how many people had evacuated the area around the site.

People outside that radius who live in the wind of the fire are advised to keep their windows closed and their pets inside.

Brown said the evacuation order will remain in place through Wednesday and possibly into Wednesday night, depending on the progress crews make in putting out the fire.

He said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Sun blocked by smoke

Aaron Stevens, a Richmond police officer who lives six blocks from the plant, said he first heard the sirens Tuesday before he saw a pillar of smoke from his backyard that blocked the afternoon sun.

The smoke came with an acrid smell and said ash then fell on the deck and backyard.

“It blocks the sun completely,” he said. “Birds are crazy.” Despite the evacuation warning, Stevens said he plans to stay after getting sick.

Her sister who lives in her childhood home, which is closer to the plants and exposed to the fire, came to stay with her sister to escape the smoke. Stevens said he plans on keeping an eye on changing updates around the smoke.

“If there is any concern about toxic safety, I have a contingency plan,” he said. State and federal regulators are on site to assess air quality and other environmental impacts at the site, which local officials say is used to store plastic and other materials for recycling or resale.

Jason Sewell, on-scene coordinator for the US Environmental Protection Agency, said the agency conducted air sampling outside the evacuation area and into parts of Ohio, but no toxic compounds were detected.

However, he stressed that the smoke is dangerous to inhale because it contains particles of different sizes and can contain toxins, and residents should avoid the smoke.

Sewell said air sampling continued Wednesday in Richmond, a city of 35,000 residents.

Fire Marshal says smoke ‘definitely toxic’

Indiana state fire marshal Steve Jones said Tuesday “smoke is definitely toxic” and residents should avoid secondhand smoke, especially elderly people with respiratory problems. He said if the wind changes, officials may change the evacuation order.

“There are various chemicals that the plastic releases when it’s burned. And that’s a concern,” Jones said.

Brown said the only injury was a firefighter who suffered an ankle injury Tuesday night while fighting the fire, but was treated and released.

Bethesda Worship Center in Richmond housed several families, about 20 people, Tuesday night after an evacuation order was issued, pastor Ken Harris told The Associated Press.

The family was later moved to a separate, larger facility about 8 kilometers away, he said.

“We’re giving them a safe place to breathe and gather their thoughts,” Harris said Wednesday as dark gray smoke billowed into the distance through the blue sky outside the church’s windows.

Richmond Mayor Dave Snow said Monday that the plastic recycling site has been ordered by the city to clean up and remediate the complex, but said business owners have ignored that order. Snow called the man a “disrespectful business owner.”

The EPA monitors fires

President Joe Biden, who has visited Northern Ireland and Ireland, spoke by phone to Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb and offered support and additional federal aid needed to respond to the fires, the White House said.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the federal agency is working with state and local partners to respond to and monitor fires.

He said an EPA team will collect debris samples in the area Wednesday “to determine if any asbestos-containing material may have left the site.”

“So we are following the situation very closely and will continue to provide assistance to any community that needs it,” he said in the nation’s capital before speaking about tough new car pollution control limits.

Because of the smoke still wafting from the fire, the Indiana environmental agency issued an air quality advisory for two eastern Indiana counties, Wayne and Randolph, warning that the forecast calls for elevated levels of fine soot particles in the air.