Fire At Plastics Warehouse Still Burning 24 Hours Later
BALTIMORE HIGHLANDS, Md. (WJZ) —More than 24 hours after flames broke out at a warehouse in Baltimore County, the smoke is still rising, the rubble smoldering and firefighters are hard at work.
On Tuesday, more than 200 fighters battled the 3-alarm blaze at Adell Plastics Inc. located in the 4500 block of Annapolis Road.
Baltimore County Police said on Wednesday they were continuing their effort to extinguish the blaze-- fueled by cardboard boxes and plastic beads.
"What they were storing there is little plastic beads, the pellets that they melt down to make plastic products. That's what stored there. That's what's burning," said Paul Massarelli of the Baltimore County Fire Department.
The fire caused wall and roof collapses within the structure which made the fire fight even more difficult.
"It's been product burning, the building is not so much burning but everything that was in this warehouse is now burning," Massarelli says. "Cranes came in to knock the walls down, the roof fell on top of the fire, so now we have a tin roof sitting on top of a fire that we can not penetrate with water."
Officials say the focal point of the operation was preventing the fire from spreading to an area where hazardous materials were stored.
"There is a fire barrier, a fire wall, between the warehouse and the area where the hazmats are. We are keeping the area cooled down and keeping the fire away from that area," said Massarelli .
All employees did make it out of the building as filled the warehouse.
One firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion.
Official say even though there were hazmat in the area there is no reason for concern.
County building engineers have ruled the building unsafe, and demolition crews are dismantling the building so firefighters can get to the seat of the fire.
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