Firefighters are making progress to extinguish the fire at plastic recycling warehouses in Richmond. The fire has been burning since Tuesday afternoon, sending harmful smoke into the air and debris that could contain asbestos onto the ground.
Richmond Fire Department Chief Tim Brown said firefighters have started demolishing parts of the site and applying firefighting foam. He said that tactic seems to be working.
“And we’re hoping to have the fire close to 98, 99 percent out sometime this evening and, if not, tomorrow morning," he said at a press conference on Thursday.
Jason Sewell with the Environmental Protection Agency said winds overnight on Wednesday have shifted smoke from the fire from northeast of the warehouse fire to true north.
"That was impacting new people that might not have been smelling smoke the day before," he said.
Sewell said more of the smoke is also at ground-level, though it's starting to dissipate.
READ MORE: Industrial fire that displaced more than 1,000 in Richmond could burn for several days
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He said, so far, the agency is still not finding cancer-causing chemicals in the air beyond the site itself. But particle pollution from the smoke can make it harder to breathe and cause heart and lung conditions over time.
Officials with the Wayne County Health Department said any residents that see or smell smoke need to shelter in place — and make sure to do things like shut their doors and turn off their air conditioning.
The EPA is also looking into how many people might have debris in their yards from the fire. Sewell said the agency did find asbestos in one sample it collected within a mile and a half of the site. He encouraged residents not to mow their lawns if they suspect they have debris — doing so could kick up asbestos into the air.
A community help line is available at 765-973-9300 and the city of Richmond’s website.
Mayor Dave Snow has said the former business that owned the warehouses, My Way Trading, is responsible for the conditions that led to the fire. The city attorney said Richmond was waiting for the business to sell plastics stored there before it could begin cleaning up the property. That effort got stalled by the pandemic.
Rebecca is our energy and environment reporter. Contact her at rthiele@iu.edu or follow her on Twitter at @beckythiele.
