A massive fire engulfed a Texas plastic plant in Grand Prairie, sending toxic plumes over the skies, and threatening enormous power outage. The fire is expected to burn for days, and the smoke is toxic and an irritant, especially to those who have underlying conditions.
A power line from the high tension power lines with towers fell at the storage area of the plastic plant as stacks of rolled plastics are underneath the towers. The plastic rolls ignited, sparking the fire, the assistant chief of operations with Grand Prairie Fire Department Bill Murphy said. He also warned residents to expect power outages.
"The materials ignited and spread throughout the storage area, " Murphy said. The storage area was about 300 yards wide.
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The Fire Could Burn for Days
There were no reported injuries, and no evacuations were necessary as firefighters were able to put on firebreaks and contain the fire.
Three of Poly-America's freight rail cars caught fire, while another rail car exploded. The supporting towers for electricity lines are expected to collapse from the feat of the flames.
Murphy said the most significant worry is the massive power lines in the area, fearing it is a matter of time that the towers come down. He said that although the lines have already been de-energized, there is a possibility that the heat may pull other towers down as well and hit an energized line. Should the powerlines go down, a lot of people would have no power. Oncor Electric Delivery Company (ONCOR), however, assured the public that they were able to shut down the line near the fire and reroute power to nearby homes and businesses. As of Wednesday afternoon, ONCOR reported that only 30 costumers had a power outage.
According to fire officials, it is difficult to get to the area where the fire is razing. Although the fire department got support from other fire stations, there is not enough foam to suppress the fire.
The fire is expected to burn until the next day, at least as there are huge rolls of plastics sheeting, stacked to up to eight-feet high. Many of the plastics are polyethylene, which firefighters mark as highly flammable.
Massive fire engulfed Poly-America plastic manufacturing plant in Grand Prairie, Texas sending toxic plumes over the skies, and threatening massive power outage. The fire is expected to burn for several days and the smoke is toxic and serves as an irritant especially to those who have underlying conditions.
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Toxic Plumes
Air quality tests were made in the scene by the local and state environmental authorities.
According to Hector Rodrigues, he could not believe what he had witnessed: flames shot up to 300,400, 500 feet up into the sky that just kept burning.
Officials reiterated that people with an underlying medical condition should take special care. Murphy warned that "Anybody with any breathing problems, any asthmatics, I mean it is the combustion from plastic, so it's not good to breathe." He further advised that individuals with compromised conditions should avoid the area of self-evacuate is necessary.
Poly-America had been in Grand Prairie since 1976, and the company is the country's most extensive plastics recycling and manufacturing operations. The company had several histories of fires: from 1989 to 1991, the buildings caught fire three times. The fire in 1991 was so big that it took more than 100 firefighters to extinguish the fire.
Murphy said he had fought a similar fire in the Poly-America facility more than three decades ago.
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