Fire at Georgia Plastics Plant Prompts Evacuation Order

A fire at a plastic resin plant in Brunswick, Ga., on Saturday prompted officials to issue an evacuation order for people within half of a mile of the facility, the authorities said, as billows of dark smoke rose and spread through the city.

The Brunswick Fire Department and Glynn County Fire Rescue responded to the Pinova plant around 7 a.m., the authorities said.

Firefighters contained the fire within hours but around 3 p.m. it had reignited, the Glynn County Board of Commissioners said on Facebook. The board issued a shelter-in-place order for those living within half of a mile of the plant and an evacuation order was issued about an hour later.

It was not immediately clear how the fire started or what was burning. There were no injuries reported as of Saturday afternoon, the board said.

Pinova, a subsidiary of DRT Worldwide, which has manufacturing sites around the world, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Saturday night.

The fire in Brunswick came just days after a fire involving a plastics plant in Richmond, Ind. Officials on Saturday were reviewing air and water samples to decide whether an evacuation order there could be lifted.

Mayor Dave Snow of Richmond said in a statement that officials would meet Saturday evening to discuss next steps.

The evacuation order in Brunswick, a city of about 14,000 people about 80 miles south of Savannah, was issued at 5:34 p.m.

Photos of the fire showed the plant engulfed in smoke. Roads near the plant were closed so an airdrop — which typically releases a fire retardant — could be completed, and two more drops were possible on Saturday night, the board said. Planes and a helicopter were also en route, according to the board.