PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — The fire that’s continuing to burn in Parkersburg is almost the only answer to the questions that residents have.
Local officials say they can’t really estimate when the fire at the old Ames lawn and garden tool plant will be out. They can’t yet guess when the smoke will die down or when students will be able to return to school. Because the fire is still burning, they haven’t been able to get close enough to learn more about what caused it.
They don’t yet know specifics about air quality. Officials are as frustrated as anyone else that they don’t know what specifically was being stored in the plant, which was being used as a warehouse for recyclable plastics.
Governor Justice came to town today and assured local leaders of the state’s help but he was still trying to determine the funding mechanism. His desire is for the state to be paid back by the owner of the facility that burned, IEI Plastics. He also hopes the federal government will get involved.
Local and state leaders emphasized during a news conference today in Parkersburg that they want to share information with the public as openly and quickly as possible.
The trouble is, four days into the enormous warehouse fire, they just don’t know a lot yet themselves.
“We’re still fighting a fire,” said Wood County Commission President Blair Couch. “There’s gonna be answers. And it may not be today. And it may not be tomorrow.”
How long will the fire burn?
The fire has been burning since about 12:30 a.m. Saturday, sending black plumes of smoke into the sky. A contractor specializing in hazmat situations has been using heavy equipment to pull back layers of smoldering debris and then dousing it with water or foam.
Local leaders said the hiring of a special contractor plus the assurance of state help means the fire can be fought as aggressively as possible.
Even at that, it’s not clear how long it might burn. The property includes about 10 acres of material that must be moved aside to get to smoldering layers below.
“We’re still trying to uncover and get to the very, very bottom of the last flame,” Justice said. “We’re winning the battle right now.
“I hope we’ve got it out today. I hope and pray we’ve got it out today, but that’s not practical, probably.”
County Commissioner Jimmy Colombo, a former mayor of Parkersburg, said the progress is improving.
“I was there last night, and I saw for the first time because of the heavy equipment — the big booms they have, the big claws — instead of fighting perimeter fires we’re going to the middle of it and moving things.”
Colombo said the presence of the hazmat contractor from Washington, Pa., has provided hope that the fire might be put out sooner rather than later.
“To be honest if it weren’t for the governor’s help here we would not have had those people and that fire might have gone on forever,” he said.
Mark Stewart, chief of the Lubeck Volunteer Fire Department and incident commander, told those gathered at the press conference that there is no way to place a timeline on the fire.
“We can’t give you one,” he said. “I can tell you since we have a contractor it’ll be quicker than without.”
How did the fire start?
No one knows, in part because the site can’t be access while it’s ablaze.
“We’re still fighting the fire,” Stewart said. “The investigators can’t do their on-site investigation until we put the fire out.”
Couch said investigators with the state Fire Marshal’s Office are doing what they can by combing the residential area surrounding the burning plant.
“The state Fire Marshal is doing door-to-door work,” he said. “They’re knocking on doors, seeing if someone has seen something, heard something.
What material is burning?
A concern of everyone’s is better identifying the plastic or chemical material that’s burning beneath the collapsed warehouse.
“We don’t really know what’s going up into the air for sure,” said Justice, who advocated for federal help in determining that.
Commissioner Couch says he doesn’t have enough information at hand to specify what’s burning.
“We’re looking for the property owner to complete an evaluation. He said his paperwork was in the building. Now he’s going though his emails to get a bill, trying to figure out what they had shipped out,” Couch said.
Couch said the owners provided a Material Safety Data Sheet in a three-ring binder, but it wasn’t current.
“And so we did a leaf-through with that with some industry experts,” he said. “We compiled a short list on it. We had further discussion. They said not all of it was there. We’re still trying to determine.”
Messina concurred.
“We don’t know yet the exact contents of the warehouse,” said Lawerence Messina, a spokesman for the state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety. “That’s the big unanswered question that they’re working to get answers for.”
Couch said the answers won’t come immediately.
“It’s going to be a little bit of time,” Couch said. “I know there’s just so many people with concerns, me not the least of them.”
The governor said testing by state officials so far has shown air quality to be at acceptable levels. He said the Division of Environmental Protection has taken about 150 air samples from a variety of locations.
“All results have been below the acceptable level,” he said, adding that state environmental authorities are focusing on materials such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, chlorine and ammonia.
The state Department of Environmental Protection on Tuesday afternoon posted information online about hundreds of air quality samples taken in the area surrounding the warehouse fire. Additional air quality monitoring by both the WVDEP and EPA is ongoing.
The information, which DEP said would be continuously updated, is available online here. The full air monitoring report is still being compiled and an updated version will be posted once those results are included.
The governor said he would welcome advice from federal authorities and others with expertise.
“But there may be some expert out there that knows there’s something that’s not OK,” Justice said during the news conference that went for about an hour.
What state and federal help is available?
The governor promised as much help as the state can provide.
Justice told the crowd gathered at an assembly hall in Parkersburg that it had come to the point that the county was deciding between continuing to pay contractor Specialized Professional Services Inc. or go bankrupt.
The governor said he had no choice but to decide to provide all the help the state could muster.
“Somebody’s got to make a decision,” Justice said. “The decision for me was just this: I don’t know what the mechanics are of the funds available from the state’s standpoint, but somebody’s got to make a decision. My decision was just this: First and foremost, I’m here to help the people. And that’s what I decided.”
He later went on to say the decision to provide state help had to be made before worrying about how to recoup the money.
“I still don’t know how the state’s going to be refunded the money,” Justice said. “I don’t know that the money’s not going to have to just come out of the governor’s contingency fund. But I know this. I know you can’t let Wood County go bankrupt. For crying out loud, you can’t let Wood County not make their payroll.”
The governor said he’s also instructed state employees who are involved with fighting and investigating the Parkersburg fire to keep track of every dime spent.
“We want to be able to recoup every dime of that back from the insurance company, once the insurance company comes through and does their job,” he said. “We should not be out those dollars. But even if we were out those dollars versus hurting our people, there is no decision.”
Justice acknowledged that the extent of the insurer’s coverage remains unknown.
Couch and the rest of the county commissioners had worried about funding to fight the fire and expressed relief that the governor had stepped up. Couch said a private contractor with hazmat expertise is coming at a cost of $60,000 to $80,000 a day.
“It’s a humbling experience for the governor to come to your county and offer all the resources government can provide because his bench is deep,” Couch said.
Couch said he has also been in touch with the offices of Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito, as well as Congressman David McKinley.
“It’s the old line: ‘What do you need?’ And my response is, ‘Everything.’ Everything. Everything. Everything. And maybe it’s overkill and maybe it’s not. But we need everything here.”
Manchin’s office sent out a news release this afternoon to say the senator had spoken with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt along with Colombo and Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce about the industrial fire.
“I will continue to do everything possible to ensure our state and local officials are fully supported by federal agencies, and I thank the many local emergency responders who have been working tirelessly to stop the fire and protect the public,” Senator Manchin stated.
When will the community get back to normal?
People should take precautions, avoiding exposure to the smoke if possible, said Messina, the spokesman for the state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.
“Prudence is probably the way to approach this,” he said. “I’m not aware of any formal orders regarding shelter in place or any evacuation orders. The Red Cross has been making available a voluntary shelter, which my understanding is no one’s really used.”
County government offices and the school system have been shut down through the first part of the week. It’s not yet clear when students may return.
“I can’t possibly answer that,” Justice said.
Stewart, the local incident commander, said people can see with their own eyes that the situation is improving.
“If you look at the smoke cloud, it’s a whole lot better than it was Saturday,” he said. “And we hope that every day we see an improvement. That’s the best answer I can give you.”
Accountability
Both the governor and local officials emphasized that they want to provide information as soon as it’s reliable.
“I am for full transparency. On everything. All the time,” Justice said. “This business of sweeping something under the rug and not letting all of us know is not good with me. I will try every way I can to make sure everything is transparent. Everything.”
Couch expanded on those remarks.
“From an environmental aspect, the county commission along with the state has worked proactively to bring the resources to bear because we don’t want to hide anything. Because my kids live here. So we want to release everything fast,” he said. “Because you all have a right to know.”
West Virginia American Water Company released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying it is monitoring water quality levels at its Huntington, with additional testing being done as part of the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission’s Organics Detection System. The fire is located around 124 miles from the plant’s intake.