Fire at Plastics Plant Sends Toxic Smoke Over North Texas
Aug 21 2020 | 11:03:35
A plastics plant near Dallas,Texas caught fire midnight Wednesday, sending a column of toxic smoke billowing over North Texas.The smoke could be seen for miles and was picked up on a weather camera in Denton, about 40 miles away, WFAA reported. No injuries were reported and no evacuations were ordered, but people with underlying medical conditions were warned to avoid the smoke and self-evacuate if needed."Anybody with any breathing problems, any asthmatics, I mean it is the combustion from plastic so it's not good to breathe," Grand Prairie Assistant Fire Chief Bill Murphy told CBS Dallas-Fort Worth.The fire broke out at Poly-America factory in Grand Prairie, which manufactures polyethylene and petroleum-based products such as trash bags, drop cloths, plastic sheeting and vapor barrier film.Firefighters think the blaze started when a powerline fell on an area where plastic rolls were being stored."All of their storage there at Poly-America, for their rolled plastic, is underneath those towers so it ignited the plastic rolls. It just spread to all the inventory that they have back there," Murphy told CBS Dallas-Fort Worth.