Industrial Fires Raise Health Concerns and Safety Precautions.
Owner of the Richmond plastics recycling business, Seth Smith, acknowledged in a 2019 meeting that his business had become a fire hazard due to the chaotic stacking of pallets of scrap plastic and blocked building exits. Smith explained that the business had fallen into chaos while he was ill and two men were hired to run the business. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration did a smoke plume study to help officials determine which areas may need evacuation if a fire broke out. It remains unclear how much plastic had been removed from the property in the three and a half years between the commission meeting and the fire.