US EPA, Ohio EPA requested to assist after fire at Fuyao Glass America

MORAINE — Thick black smoke continues to rise out of the Fuyao Glass America plant nearly 24 hours after the fire was first reported.

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Just before 6 p.m., the U.S. EPA told News Center 7 that the local fire department has asked the agency to provide air monitoring through a National Response Center request.

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Additionally, the Ohio EPA has been providing on-site technical assistance for approximately an hour and will continue to provide technical assistance for the remainder of the day, according to the agency.

>> PHOTOS: Firefighters battle fire at Fuyao Glass America

News Center 7’s John Bedell talked to the Regional Air Pollution Control Agency (RAPCA) about their possible response.

“RAPCA is a division of Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County,” Dan Suffoletto, Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County spokesperson, said.

As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, the agency monitors air quality in six Miami Valley counties, including Montgomery County.

RAPCA said Monday it is not considered an emergency response agency and added that it isn’t doing anything beyond normal monitoring after the fire at Fuyao.

“The closest one we have to the fire is located here in downtown Dayton, and due to the wind direction currently, we’re not seeing any elevated readings at that particular monitoring site,” Suffoletto said.

What RAPCA screens for is called particulate matter, things like dust, soot, and smoke.

RAPCA said its regular monitoring system doesn’t screen for any particular types of chemicals that may be in the air from a fire. The Ohio or U.S. EPA would do that testing.

Instead, it screens for that particulate matter.

“We would put out a notice if the levels got to an elevated situation, but right now we’re not seeing that in the particulate matter,” Suffoletto said.

News Center 7’s John Bedell also reached out to Dayton Regional Hazmat, but they said they aren’t involved in this incident.

We will continue to follow this story.

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