Hundreds evacuated from homes as Indiana recycling plant burns

More than 2,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes in Indiana on Wednesday night after multiple fires broke out at a nearby recycling plant and are expected to continue for days, according to city and state officials. 

Several fires began on Tuesday afternoon at a former factory site in Richmond, Indiana, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) east of Indianapolis, near the border with Ohio, according to Fire Chief Tim Brown. Since then the fire has been contained but not under control. 

About 2,000 people who live within a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) of the plant were told to evacuate after the fire began, said David Hosick, spokesperson for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. People outside the half-mile radius were advised to keep their windows shut due to plumes of black smoke coming from the site. 

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Brown said. However, the site, operated by Cornerstone Trading Group and used to store plastics and other materials for recycling or resale, had received notices from law enforcement in the past. 

In 2020, a judge ordered a cleanup after inspectors found that the site had no fire sprinklers and had “excessive plastic materials,” which is considered to be a fire hazard. It is unclear if anything had been done since the court order. “

"There is a host of different chemicals that plastics give off when they're on fire, and it's concerning," said Indiana State Fire Marshal Steve Jones on Tuesday evening, adding he expects the fire to continue burning for days.

State and federal regulators are monitoring the air quality and environmental impacts of the fire. Yet so far, the air quality tests have not found any toxic chemicals such as styrene or benzene. 

However, “the biggest risk is the unknown chemicals that are formed as the compounds burn,” said Richard Peltier, associate professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

“We know that it is very common that a large range of chemicals are formed whenever plastic materials are burned, including styrene, benzene, and a wide number of polyaromatic hydrocarbons – all of these are strong carcinogens, and it’s important for people to avoid exposures,” Peltier said.