(FiveNation.com)- Firefighters responded to the scene of a massive fire around two in the morning last Thursday, after a storage yard containing about two acres of pallets filled with plastic plant pots caught fire behind the Nursery Supplies, Inc. plant in Kissimmee, Florida.
According to officials, the workers inside the plant were evacuated and nobody was injured. None of the buildings at the plant caught fire.
During a press conference last Thursday, Osceola County Deputy Fire Chief Jon Haskett said around 75 firefighters from Osceola, Orange, and Polk Counties were working to put the fire out after it spread across five acres near the plant just a few miles away from Walt Disney World.
Nursery Supplies, Inc. manufactures plastic nursery pots and greenhouse supplies.
According to Deputy Chief Haskett, fire crews used both water and foam to control the fire. He said it is likely a propane tank exploded in the area, but all other propane tanks have been secured.
Fox 35 in Orlando provided aerial images of the blaze, showing black, billowing smoke rising into the air.
Firefighters battled the blaze for nearly twelve hours before the fire was under control.
HazMat crews along with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection were monitoring the area. However, there have been no reports of any hazardous materials being released.
Dr. Todd Husty, a public health official, told Fox 35 that the chemicals from the burning plastic pots are “nothing exotic.” Instead, the plastic turns to soot made up of carbons, like carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, which “dissipates in the air.”
While the cause of the fire has not yet been determined, Nursery Supplies, Inc. said in a statement that the fire appeared to have started along the rear of the property near the back fence. The fire damage was contained to the outside yard where the plastic plant pots made at the plant were stored.
