Updates on Richmond fire one day later; ‘probably the largest fire I’ve seen in my career’

RICHMOND, Ind. — The black, dark gray cloud of smoke over Richmond has turned to a lighter gray. It takes a little more than just peeking out your window to see it now, certainly not as visible from neighboring counties as it was Tuesday.

It’s been just over 24 hours since a “massive” fire seemingly pushed pause on life in Richmond April 11. As the smoke cleared, people got answers from press conferences held late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.

More: Richmond industrial fire forces evacuation/shelter in place order; schools closed Wednesday

What happened?

The Richmond Fire Department (RFD) got the call just after 2:30 p.m. Tuesday to head to a fire at 358 NW F St, but first responders didn’t need the address. One look to the sky after leaving the station told them exactly where they needed to go.

“It’s probably the largest fire I’ve seen in my career,” RFD Chief Tim Brown said.

It was the old Hoffco building, previously used for building small-engine things like string trimmers. More recently, that building was used as a warehouse for My Way Trading, a business that collected and packaged recyclables for reselling.

Brown said there was about 14 acres of plastic all over the complex — stacked in buildings, packed in semi-trailers and piled up outside — and the main warehouse was “completely full from floor to ceiling and from wall to wall.”

One of the semi-trailers full of unknown plastics caught fire and spread to the warehouse and six other buildings, all part of My Way Trading. Brown said there were a few workers on site when RFD arrived, who believed no one was in the warehouse and everyone was accounted for. The fire quickly started to get out of control, so RFD backed out and went into “defensive mode.”

Soon, every available fire department in Wayne County and the surrounding counties was providing assistance. By sunset, Brown estimated, all but half an acre of the 14 acres of plastic had burned.

“The entire complex is either burning or has burned,” Brown said.

Luckily, RFD and help contained the fire to just that complex, and there was no residential damage. The only casualty was one firefighter, who fell down a ravine and injured his ankle. He was treated and released from Reid Health Tuesday.

What now?

Soon after the fire started, the Wayne County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) issued an evacuation/shelter-in-place order for anyone within a half mile of the fire. Anyone east/northeast of the fire (downwind of the smoke) was encouraged to stay inside. That order is still in place and has no timetable for being lifted at this time.

“This fire is going to burn for a few days,” Indiana State Fire Marshal Steve Jones said Tuesday night. “It’s a big enough fire that it’s not just going to be tonight. It’s going to burn a while.”

For as long as the fire burns, there will be smoke, and despite the significant reduction of smoke in the area, it’s still “definitely toxic.”

More: Richmond plastics recycling warehouse that caught fire had previous safety citations

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) arrived in Richmond Tuesday evening and started collecting air samples to see what harmful products were in the air. Tests detected many dangerous compounds, and EPA Representative Jason Sewell said many of them have potential to lead to cancer. EPA will be in the area collecting more samples 24 hours a day until it’s safe.

“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,” Wayne County Health Department Director Christine Stinson said. “We are stressing to the public to honor the evacuation zone. It’s for your safety that the evacuation zone is there. If you can see the smoke, you’re in the smoke, get out of the smoke.”

Currently, the evacuation zone remains at a half mile radius from the fire, meaning residents within Sheridan Street (east), the 700 block of Indiana Avenue (west), NW L Street (north) and Lincoln Street (south) should evacuate the area immediately.

If you are outside the zone, especially downwind of the smoke, you are still advised to shelter in place, close your doors and windows and turn off your HVAC units. Masks, especially N95s, will help filter out some of the particulate matter in the air, but the best protection is to stay out of the smoke.

If you need a ride, call (765) 983-7580, and the city will send a bus to pick you up. If you need a place to stay, call the Wayne County Emergency Management Agency at (765) 973-9399, and it will direct you to an open shelter. If you have any health concerns, call the Wayne County Health Department’s 24/7 hotline at (765) 937-9300).

Richmond Community Schools and Seton Catholic Schools canceled all athletic events and other after-school activities in the area Tuesday and Wednesday. Richmond canceled classes for Wednesday and Thursday under EMA’s guidance.

Numerous businesses and restaurants around the fire also closed Tuesday afternoon, which helped keep people out of the area. In an effort to keep its veterans safe, Richmond’s Community Based Outpatient Clinic will be closed through the weekend and hope to reopen Monday.

How did this happen?

Brown and Richmond Mayor Dave Snow saw this coming.

“It’s very frustrating for all of us,” Brown said. “We knew it wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when this was going to happen.”

Richmond’s Unsafe Building Commission cited My Way Trading Owner Seth Smith in 2019, and the city has taken “several steps” since then to get Smith to clean up his property so it wouldn’t be a fire hazard. Snow said Smith ignored those orders even after a Wayne County judge sided with the city in Smith’s appeal five months later.

More: Commission issues 60-day cleanup order to northwest-side recycling company

More: Judge affirms city's order that recycling company clean up its property

“This was a fear for us and why we’ve taken so many steps to prevent this from happening,” Snow said. “That business owner is fully responsible for all of this … Everything that’s ensued here — the fire, the damages, the risk our first responders have taken and the risk our citizens are under — is the responsibility of that negligent business owner.

“We just wish the business owner would have taken this more serious from day one. This person has been negligent and irresponsible, and it’s led to putting a lot of people in danger.”

Snow said he will contact Smith about this incident but emphasized that it isn’t his focus right now. His main priority is making sure Richmond residents and first responders are safe.

Zach Piatt is a reporter for The Palladium-Item. Contact him at zpiatt@gannett.com or on Twitter @zachpiatt13.

This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium-Item: Updates on Richmond fire and evacuation order one day later