PLASTIMET FIREJuly 9 – 12th, 1997

Where did Plastimet take place?

• In an old smelting factory called Usarco located at 363 Wellington St. N., in Hamilton.

What was Usarco?

• It was a smelting company that melted down all types of metals into liquid form.

• Liquid was recast into ingots and resold.

• Mercury was used to break down some of the metals in the smelting process.

Previous Fires at Usarco?

• Mercury was found at previous fires at this location.

• A huge clean up was ordered to take place.

• Before this took place, the owners created a plastic recycling plant in the factory.

Plastimet

• This location became the site of one of the largest Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) fires in North American history.

• This is known as “Plastimet”.

What is Plastimet?

• A site that contained approximately 4000 cubic tonnes of burning PVC.

• It included PVC products that were brought to this site for shredding and compacting into bales, such as plastic from automobiles, computer shells, plastic bottles, etc.

Plastimet Fire - Day 1

• At approximately 7.00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 9th, 1997, the Hamilton Fire Department was dispatched.

• The fire was at the Plastimet building (old Usarco).

Plastimet Fire - Day 1

• The Fire Department didn’t know what lay ahead since this was a newly formed business in a building that should have been condemned.

• This is what first responders saw when arriving at the scene

Plastimet Fire - Day 1

• When the Platoon Chief arrived at the scene, saw the heavy black smoke and the size of the structure, he immediately upgraded to a 3 Alarm Fire.

Plastimet Fire - Day 1

• Within one hour of the start of the fire, there was approximately 18 fire trucks, 100 firefighters, an unknown numbers of police officers, paramedics, ambulance personnel on scene and 100’s of area citizens watching as this fire grew out of control.

Plastimet Fire - Day 1

• At some point during the first night of the fire, every firefighter on duty in the City of Hamilton was at this fire.

• This next picture is a photograph of the fire scene 1 hour into the fire, casting a huge cloud of heavy black smoke over the city of Hamilton.

Plastimet Fire - Day 1

• 10,000 gallons of water every minute were pumped onto the fire.

• Large pools of water were forming because the sewer system was inadequate.

• The first responding pump at Wellington and Simcoe St. was submerged in water past the exhaust pipe.

Plastimet Fire - Day 1

• Firefighters’ feet and legs were being soaked with hydrochloric acid laced water because the water was coming up over top of their boots.

• The water had become so deep that Philips Environmental was called in to suck up all the overflow water.

Plastimet Fire - Day 1

• At 8:33 p.m. the Hamilton Wentworth Detention Centre, the Hamilton General and Henderson Hospital were advised to close their air intakes reflecting the speed and strength of the plume.

• City hospitals were placed on Code Orange to be prepared to receive some of the General’s 218 patients on a moments standby.

Plastimet Fire - Day 1

• The General’s emergency department was cleared for the influx of patients suffering from smoke inhalation.

• That evening, firefighters began to arrive in the emergency department because of heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation.

Plastimet Fire - Day 2

• Thursday morning, July 10th was an extremely hot day which caused a weather condition known as a “heat inversion”.

• This is where warm air off the escarpment meets cool air coming off the lake which forms a lid trapping smoke and causing a toxic fog.

Plastimet Fire - Day 2

• By evening, the condition had worsened to where firefighters arriving on the scene held hands walking down the street trying not to lose each other or trip over the hose.

• The Ministry of the Environment air tests showed a significant worsening of benzenes and chlorobenzenes.

Plastimet Fire - Day 2

• Industries in the area were closed as employees reported becoming sick with headaches and throat and eye irritation.

• 50 police officers were on standby for a potential evacuation.

Plastimet Fire - Day 3

• At 3:30 a.m. a meeting took place with Dr. Marilyn James about the five fold increase in the benzene levels.

• An evacuation was now ordered that would take place at 8:00 a.m.

• A state of emergency was declared.

Plastimet Fire - Day 3

• The evacuation covered an eleven block radius, including 650 residences and 35 businesses.

• During the evacuation, police officers were wearing air filtered masks going door to door.

• By mid-day, the main blaze had been knocked down but firefighters continued to pour water on the smouldering rubble to extinguish the bales of plastic.

Plastimet Fire - Day 3

• By Friday evening, area hospitals had reported a large increase in admissions of people with respiratory problems including 8 firefighters.

• At 11:00 p.m., 20 firefighters were sent from the fire to the General’s Emergency Ward for treatment.

• Symptoms included headaches, dizziness, nausea and burning skin.

Plastimet Fire - Day 3

• Firefighters were told to remove all their clothing and bag it because of contamination.

• Medical staff noticed nickel-size sores on their faces, necks, hands, feet and legs.

• They asked, “What have you been exposed to?”• Firefighters were hosed down, treated, dressed

in hospital greens & released around 3:30 a.m.

Plastimet Fire - Day 4

• Day 4 was another extremely hot day.• Approximately 20 firefighters had booked off

sick after the first 2 nights.• The major fire was declared out, but many spot

fires continued.• Firefighters with full protective gear were wading

through the melted plastic and rubble with hand lines extinguishing spot fires.

Plastimet Fire - Day 4

• The Fire Department brought in heavy equipment from Stelco to separate the smouldering piles and to extinguish them.

• The front-end loaders from Stelco could withstand the extreme heat.

• This was a lesson learned from the Hagersville fire.

Plastimet Fire - Day 4

• In the end, 264 of Hamilton’s 400 firefighters had played some role at that scene.

• Nearly 99 million litres of water were poured on the fire.

• More than 4,000 tonnes of plastic burned for 4 days, although spot fires burned for up to 3 weeks.

Plastimet Fire - Day 4

• Firefighters had to decontaminate all the trucks that were at the scene by wearing fully encapsulated suits.

• The trucks had become corroded, pitted and rusted within the 4 days.

• Chunks from the radiators and the exhaust fell off some of the pumpers and ladder trucks.

Plastimet Fire - Day 4

• The fire trucks had to be sandblasted.• The indestructible bunker suits, made to

withstand fire, dried up like paper, ripped and had to be thrown away.

Plastimet Fire – The Weeks Following

• In the following weeks, a survey was conducted and showed 86% of all firefighters who were involved in Plastimet had reported some health effects.

• The majority reported throat and eye irritations, headaches and coughs that lasted several days, up to weeks.

Plastimet Fire – The Weeks Following

• Other complaints included burning nasal cavities, stinging skin, skin rash, speaking discomfort, stomach aches, chest tightness, odd taste in the mouth, running and plugged noses, diarrhea, phlegm, itching, shortness of breath, wheezing, nausea, peeling skin, tingly hands, arms and feet, fever and vomiting.

Plastimet Fire – In Summary

• More than 45 firefighters lost time from work and 160 sought medical attention.

• Due to the number of ill firefighters, the City of Hamilton and the Hamilton Professional Firefighters Association created a long-term medical surveillance program funded by the corporation for 25 years.

Plastimet Fire – The Effects To-Date

• In the 11 years following Plastimet, 1 firefighter’s death and 4 other cancers have been directly related to this fire.

• Many respiratory illnesses have surfaced post Plastimet.