Video: Texas FFs battle massive blaze at plastics warehouse

Domingo Ramirez Jr.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — A massive fire in a Grand Prairie warehouse that has rolls of plastic inside continued to burn Wednesday morning as firefighters battled the blaze.

No injuries have been reported.

“It’s going to be burning for hours,” said Grand Prairie Assistant Fire Chief Bill Murphy in a telephone interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

There have been no official evacuations, but people with underlying health conditions should avoid the area, the Grand Prairie Fire Department said in a tweet.

A power line that collapsed may have started the blaze at Poly-America, 2000 W. Marshall Drive, in Grand Prairie.

“More power lines will go down, but we are working with Oncor,” Murphy said. The fire is expected to cause power line towers to topple, causing more towers to be pulled down, fire officials said.

As of 8:15 a.m., abut 30 residents were without power in the area, said Oncor spokeswoman Kerri Dunn in a telephone interview.

“We were able to disconnect the lines and re-route the service,” Dunn said. That work was done early Wednesday.

The President George Bush Turnpike and other roads in the area were shut down Wednesday morning, but Grand Prairie officials said the turnpike has reopened.

Grand Prairie firefighters received reports of a fire at the warehouse about midnight, meaning firefighters have been battling the blaze for more than six hours.

Murphy said there were rolls of plastic as high as eight feet in the warehouse which caught fire.

The company was founded in 1976, and it produces products like kitchen trash bags, yard trash bags, plastic sheeting and plastic drop cloths, according to the Poly-America website.

A railroad car loaded with paint and near the warehouse has burned, fire officials. Firefighters are attempting to prevent other railroad cars in the area from burning.

Firefighters also are trying to prevent the massive fire from burning a lumberyard which is to the west of the warehouse.

 

Grand Prairie and Dallas-Fort Worth Airport firefighters are on the scene while fire crews from Cedar Hill, Irving and Dallas are handling calls in Grand Prairie, fire officials said.

Grand Prairie police warned motorists of heavy traffic delays in west Grand Prairie in the area of W. Marshall Drive, Great Southwest Parkway and Texas 161 (President George Bush Turnpike). Streets near W. Marshall Drive are closed, according to news reports.

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