EPA crews wearing respirators joined Pueblo firefighters Sunday night as a scrapyard the size of a football field burned, for the second time in two months, and health offcials advised residents to seal their homes and evacuate if they had health problems.
A pregnant woman who reported trouble breathing was taken to the hospital.
The fire at the American Iron and Metal scrapyard, at the southeast edge of Pueblo near the steel mill, rocketed plumes of particulate-heavy black smoke into the adjacent Salt Creek and Blende neighborhoods.
“It is definitely a synthetic smell,” Pueblo fire inspector Erik Duran said. “The biggest concern we have is safety of the general public.”
About 25 firefighters from several agencies were planning to work on the fire at least until midnight. They’d suppressed flames and black smoke changed to gray on Sunday afternoon.
Firefirefighters were using an excavator to try to churn up scrapyard materials, apparently including plastics and vinyls from vehicles from which metal and fluids had been removed.
The pile is about 70 feet deep, Duran said. “We’ve stopped the fire from spreading.”
An Environmental Protection Agency response team, arriving a bit after 8 p.m., was monitoring the air impact of the fire.
Firefighters continued spraying water on the smoldering scrap.
Roadways closed Sunday afternoon were re-opened Sunday night as shifting wind helped reduce smoke.
At 4:20 p.m., Pueblo County Sheriff’s authorities made a reverse 911 phone call to Salt Creek residents after Pueblo’s city-county health department issued a shelter-in-place advisory. The advisory urged Salt Creek residents to shut down air-conditioning systems and close their windows and doors.
Residents with lung and respiratory issues were told to leave until smoke dissipated. According to a census survey, about 648 people live in 225 households.
Local health officials could not be reached.
The scrapyard burned on April 19, Duran said. Owners had begun to address the hazards, he said, but to his knowledge had not been cited for violations.
Bruce Finley: 303-954-1700, bfinley@denverpost.com or
