Pollution warning issued after overnight fire at Linkou plastics plant

New Taipei, April 7 (CNA) Residents in parts of New Taipei and Taoyuan were urged to close their windows and wear masks outdoors on Sunday due to possible pollutants stemming from an overnight fire at a Nan Ya Plastics plant in Taishan District.

The New Taipei Environmental Protection Bureau issued the warning for residents of Linkou, Taishan, Wugu, Sanchong and Xinzhuang districts, as well as Taoyuan's Guishan District, in response to the fire that broke out around 2 a.m. at the facility on Nanlin Road.

During an early morning visit to the site, New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) said firefighters had controlled the fire in a building that contained around 300 metric tons of plastic raw materials, but had not yet managed to extinguish it.

According to the city's fire department, the blaze broke out on the fifth floor of a reinforced concrete building in the plant complex and burned an area of 2,857 square meters before being brought under control at 3:30 a.m.

There were no reports of deaths or injuries from the fire, the cause of which has yet to be announced.

The Environmental Protection Bureau said air quality readings taken downwind of the fire on Sunday morning had not detected any spikes in particulate pollution, but it nevertheless urged precautions due to the possibility of a foul smell and pollutants being dispersed to those areas before the fire is extinguished.

As of 10 a.m., Linkou District was reporting "moderate" air quality, while "good" air quality was reported at all other monitoring stations in New Taipei, according to data from the Ministry of the Environment.

Update

April 7: Nan Ya Plastics confirms no toxic gas released from plant fire