With the release of hazardous black smoke into the air, a large fire at a recycling factory in Indiana drove thousands of people to flee the area.
At Richmond, a city on the Ohio border that is roughly 70 miles east of Indianapolis, a fire broke out at a former factory site that was being used to store recyclable plastics.
Authorities now think that the fire started in a semi-trailer carrying plastics before spreading to the building, which was ‘wall to wall’ with plastic storage.
Indiana State Fire Marshal Steve Jones said the fumes from the blaze were ‘definitely toxic’ at a press conference on Tuesday.
‘There’s a host of different chemicals plastics give off when they’re on fire,’ he said.
No injuries have been reported as of Wednesday morning, but the city ordered evacuations for homes within a half-mile radius of the facility. About 2,000 people have been evacuated.
The evacuation area may change if wind patterns change before the fire is extinguished, officials said. Winds have already blown some of the toxic fumes across the border into Ohio.
Part of the facility is owned by the city, but most was owned by a private business owner, who had multiple citations for improper storage, officials said.
‘They were under a city order to clean up and remediate that site,’ Richmond Mayor Dave Snow said. ‘We knew that was a fire hazard the way they were storing materials.’
‘He had been warned several times,’ Richmond Fire Chief Tim Brown told Fox 59. ‘We knew it wasn’t a matter of it, it was a matter of when.’
At another press conference on Tuesday, city officials blamed the fire on the
‘The business owner is responsible for this mess,’ Snow said. ‘This person has been negligent and irresponsible, and it’s led to putting a lot of people in danger.’