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Chattooga County emergency workers are evacuating the area around a recycling plant in Summerville, Ga., after a fire broke out at the facility.Photo by WRCB-TV Channel 3 /Chattanooga Times Free Press.
The Summerville, Ga., fire department evacuated residents within a quarter mile of a large blaze Friday night at a recycling plant in Chattooga County and called in a Hazmat team to check the air quality in the area, firefighter and engineer J.R. Brown said.
“We’re in the process of getting a Hazmat team in from Walker [County] to check the air quality because of all the burning plastics,” he said.
The fire started around 5:30 p.m. Friday at 850 Raccoon Road and sent dark smoke billowing into the area. Between 30 and 50 firefighters from several departments fought the blaze. Brown said the fire may have started because of a fuel explosion.
Nobody was inside the plant when the fire started, and nobody was injured. Brown said he is not sure when the blaze will be contained.
“We don’t really know how long,” he said about 9:30 Friday night. “There is still a big column of smoke coming with heavy fire.”
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