New Mexico plastics fire that released hazardous pollutants could smolder for days

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-mexico-plastics-fire-released-hazardous-pollutants-rcna98567

Author: Aria Bendix

Firefighters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, have contained a gigantic plastics fire that prompted a health alert about hazardous air pollution. But authorities say the debris could still smolder for days. Responders were dispatched on Sunday afternoon to a facility that manufactures and recycles plastic pipes. By then, flames had ignited a storage yard filled with at least an acre of material — old and new pipes, semi-trailers and ground-up material ready to be recycled. A thick cloud of black smoke quickly filled the sky, the result of burning high-density polyethylene, authorities said.