Hamilton, Ontario
July 9, 1997

One of Canada's worst industrial fires broke out in a decaying waterfront warehouse occupied by a plastics-recycling company.

That night at Plastimet Inc., 400 tons of defective auto parts, left behind by a scrap-metal firm, and polyurethane foam began burning. For four days, 225 firefighters struggled to control the blaze. Despite high levels of toxins in the air – dioxin, PCBs, vinyl chloride, benzene – they treated it as a routine fire, not a hazardous-materials event. When air supplies ran out, they worked without masks.

The spectacular column of black, orange and yellow smoke lured scores of residents to a nearby park, where they set up lawn chairs and threw a party, "Smokefest '97." The celebration ended when the wind shifted, sending gagging smoke and oily soot over the working-class neighborhood.

On the third day, the city declared a state of emergency. But the evacuation of 650 residents was delayed while police waited for air masks and chemical-proof goggles.

In the following weeks, nearly 100 Hamilton firefighters began complaining of infected eyes, skin rashes, and respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders.

Of greater concern is "what happens in five, 10 or 15 years," said James Melius, an epidemiologist who has studied firefighters exposed to toxic blazes, including the one at Wade.

Although the Plastimet and Wade fires bore striking similarities, the Hamilton firefighters have one advantage. In an unusual program costing the city $236,000 annually, they will get free health monitoring for the next 25 years.

Lodi, N.J.
April 21, 1995

It started with a runaway reaction in a huge vat where chemicals were being mixed for dye. Before long, Napp Technologies exploded, killing fiveworkers and injuring 40 others.

Two weeks before, Napp had given the state a list of 1,100 chemicals in stock, but it had yet to be distributed to local emergency personnel.

For 24 hours, hundreds of firefighters, police and paramedics worked the blaze in Bergen County. Many lacked adequate air masks or protective clothing to handle a chemical fire.

Weeks afterward, more than 300 were complaining of respiratory, eye and skin problems. A long-term study of the health effects of the Lodi fire is being done by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, in New Brunswick.

Utica, N.Y.
Jan. 8, 1981

By the time firefighters reached the General Electric plant, flames were spewing from a sound-proof chamber, 100 by 15 feet. As its lining – four-inch-thick polyurethane foam – burned, a horrific mix of hydrogen cyanide, benzene, toluene and carbon monoxide filled the air.

Extinguishing the fire took 60 firefighters six hours. Their breathing gear lasted less than one hour.

Seven years later, the New York State Department of Health surveyed all who had been at the GE fire. Five cases of cancer were recorded; statistically, two would have been expected.

Two of the cancers were in the esophagus; another, at the junction of the stomach and esophagus. A suspected cause of esophageal cancer, researchers noted, is exposure to nitrosamines – a byproduct of burning polyurethane.

Elizabeth, N.J.
April 21, 1980

In 1979, Chemical Control Corp., a waste-storage facility, was cited by the state for keeping hazardous materials and was ordered to close.

New Jersey authorities began a cleanup. But 58,000 drums of chemicals, some radioactive, remained when the property suddenly blew.

For 15 hours, 400 firefighters, police and emergency workers labored in thick smoke; less than half had air packs. Runoff stained the Elizabeth River red; smoke shrouded Staten Island.

Within 18 months, many firefighters had reported respiratory trouble. Others developed health problems ranging from cancer to chronic skin rashes.

In 1992, 32 ill firefighters and rescue workers settled a lawsuit against the generators of Chemical Control's wastes for an undisclosed sum. At least four men, their attorney says, have since died of cancer.