Pittsburgh Industrial Fire Forces Evacuations

An industrial waste-processing facility containing 1,000 gallons of sulfuric acid caught fire in New Castle Thursday morning, causing emergency officials to evacuate homes and businesses within a half-mile of the site.

Residents were allowed to return to their homes about 6 p.m. after air quality tests showed low toxicity rates, Lawrence County Public Safety Director Brian Melcer said.

Still, officials urged nearby residents to keep their doors and windows shut through the night as crews remained on the scene to clear potentially hazardous debris.

No injuries were reported to residents or firefighters.

Melcer said “a couple people” close to the fire on River Park Drive said they could smell something in the air. As a precaution, they were advised to go to a hospital, he said.

“There were a couple reports of respiratory distress, but it was not severe,” Melcer said.

The fire was reported at 11:45 a.m. at Castle Environmental Inc., an industrial waste services company.

Responding crews found “billowing smoke with flames” streaming from a south wall, New Castle fire Chief Tom Maciarello said.

Firefighters fought the fire from outside because of the hazardous chemicals inside and because the roof of the structure began to sag, he said.

Crews contained the fire within two hours, Maciarello said. Firefighters did not enter the building until 5 p.m. when crews knocked down a north wall. The last flames were extinguished shortly after firefighters went in.

Investigators believe the fire began when sparks from a welding flame lit insulation in the warehouse’s south wall.

Maciarello said a Hazmat crew dammed runoff water and was trying to prevent it from entering Shenango River behind the facility. The crew was expected to remain through the night as workers tried to pump the potentially contaminated water into a tanker.

Officials evacuated 53 patients from the Silver Oaks nursing home on Harbor Street, about 500 feet from the fire. They and about 40 other residents sought refuge at the Scottish Rite Cathedral.

Across the street from Castle Environmental is First Student bus company, which owns and operates the New Castle Area school buses. One of the drivers, Roanne Carbone, said she and others were called to the area around noon, given plastic gloves and face masks, and told to move the fleet.

“It was scary because we didn’t really know what was going on,” she said. “They just told us to get down here and get all the buses out because the smell was really coming in.”

West Coast 911 firefighting news source - The Pittsburgh Tribune