Toxic fires at Indiana plant could burn for days

Columns of black, toxic smoke continued to spew from fires at a plastics-recycling plant in eastern Indiana on Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of about 2,000 people after flames erupted the day before. Officials said the fires will likely burn for days.

Residents within a half-mile radius of the plastics recycling plant were told to evacuate after the fire broke out around 2 pm on Tuesday on the 14-acre property, Matthew Cain, director of the Wayne County Emergency Management Agency, said Wednesday.

Residents downwind of the evacuation zone — to the east and northeast — were encouraged to shelter in place and bring pets indoors.

Schools were also closed, and shelters were being set up around the city of 35,000 about 70 miles (113 kilometers) east of Indianapolis. Richmond is near Ohio, where in East Palestine, a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed on Feb 3 and a days' long fire ensued.

Firefighters worked through the night to douse piles of burning plastics, authorities said. But multiple fires that began burning Tuesday afternoon were still burning Wednesday afternoon where various types of plastics were stored both inside and outside buildings at the former factory site, Richmond Fire Chief Tim Brown said Wednesday. He said the fire is contained within the old factory site but not under control.

Brown said the fire response team is aiming to extinguish the fires by Saturday morning, but added "that's a guess".

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has detected particulate matter from smoke in the air near the plastics fire, officials said Wednesday, raising fears that cancer-causing toxins could be spreading through the area.

It could take several more days or even weeks for laboratory tests to determine which particular compounds are polluting Richmond and the surrounding communities, according to the EPA.

The agency said in a statement Wednesday that it has started collecting debris samples in the surrounding community to determine whether asbestos-containing materials may have left the site.

Air-quality tests by the EPA hadn't found toxic chemicals such as styrene or benzene as of mid-Wednesday morning.

Tests will continue as the smoke dissipates, emergency response on-scene coordinator Jason Sewell said. The EPA collected measurements overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, monitoring particulate matter and looking for toxic chemicals.

For now, the main health concern is smoke, Wayne County Health Department Executive Director Christine Stinson said Wednesday.

"These are very fine particles — and if they're breathed in can cause all kinds of respiratory problems: burning of the eyes, tightening of the chest, it could aggravate asthma, cause bronchitis and all kinds of things," she said.

"The biggest risk is the unknown chemicals that are formed as the compounds burn," Richard Peltier, associate professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, told CNN.

The smoke from the site is "definitely toxic", Indiana State Fire Marshal Steve Jones said Tuesday. "There is a host of different chemicals that plastics give off when they're on fire, and it's concerning."

Officials said they believe the fire started after a semitrailer caught on fire on the property. They said that they didn't think foul play was involved.

Brown said Tuesday that 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 main building.

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

"It's probably the largest fire I've seen in my career," he said.

While the cause of the inferno isn't yet known, city officials "were aware that what was operating here was a fire hazard", Richmond Mayor Dave Snow said Wednesday. "This was a fear for us."

Richmond resident Brenda Jerrell said she "didn't hesitate" to leave her home near the burning recycling plant. "The smell had already been bad," she told CNN.

"I didn't have shoes on; I had socks on," she said. "I left my purse, my shoes — I left a lot of things, personal things and just got in the car and drove away."

Covering her mouth and nose with a mask, Jerrell was "still worried because they're telling us they don't know what was burning and that, you know, irritation may occur''.

Agencies contributed to this story.