FIRE AT PLASTIC FACTORY IN PINGTUNG MAY RELEASE DIOXINS INTO AIR|屏東塑膠廠大火 黑煙竄空南.高可見

Yesterday, a fire at a plastics factory sent toxic black smoke churning up into the air over Pingtung's Wandan Township. Pingtung's Environment Protection Bureau is warning the public to clear out from the area, since burning plastic can release dioxins and other harmful chemicals into the air. The fire was huge, burning down whole factory. Fire rescuers drew a fire line around the three thousand square-meter area. The fire started from 7am, nearby residents evacuated for safety. ==LOCAL RESIDENT== The fire was burning down the roof; the fire at roof was huge, very huge. Everybody could see it. I was scared. ==LOCAL RESIDENT== Thick smoke rocketed. (Heard of any explosion?) At earlier time there was an explosion. The factory located in Pingtung's Wandan Township, it manufactures plastic pallets. Until 2pm, sporadic fire remained. The dark smoke in Pingtung could be seen as far from Tainan and Kaohsiung. ==CHENG PING-SHUANG Chief, 2nd Dist. HQs, Pingtung Fire Dept.== Fire would combust again after putting out, because plastic pallet is a chemical product, therefore its fire is more difficult to extinguish. Pingtung County Government pointed out, plastic pallet is composed of polyethylene and polypropylene; the carbon monoxide level was measured at safe level 7.6 PPM and the particulate matter was also in safe index range. ==HUANG CHIEN-CHIA Spokesperson, Pingtung County Government== The burning gas was mainly methane and carbon monoxide. The air stream goes upward, therefore it has no immediate threat to the soil. No matter it is air, soil, or water, we will closely monitor these after-effects. Pingtung County government emphasized, they are still investigating the cause to the fire and will monitor air quality for the next three days. The summer hot air stream would bring particulate matter to the sky, sensitive people may wear masks as precautionary measure. Air pollution caused by the fire may be fined from NT$100,000 to NT$1 million. As to illegal factory operation, the fine will be NT$60,000 to NT$300,000. TRANSLATED BY: ANTHONY LIN 屏東萬丹一家塑膠棧板工廠，今天清晨發生火警，上千坪廠房付之一炬，就連台南、高雄的民眾，都能清楚看見黑煙。縣政府表示，夏季上升氣流，將燃燒後物質往高空帶，對一般民眾沒有影響，監測一氧化碳、懸浮微粒沒有超標，甲烷則要進一步化驗。 熊熊火勢不斷燃燒，整座工廠陷入一片火海，消防隊先在千坪廠房四周，拉起一道水線，防止火勢向外蔓延，這一場大火，從清晨七點左右開始延燒，由於周遭還有不少住戶，大家趕緊逃生。 ==附近居民== 火在屋頂那麼高 就已經屋頂著火 火很大 都看得到 嚇一跳 ==附近居民== 黑煙一直冒(有爆炸的聲音嗎) 早一點時候有爆炸一聲 起火的廠房位在屏東萬丹鄉，主要生產塑膠棧板，直到下午兩點多，還有殘火未滅，而火勢夾雜大量黑煙，持續從現場往上竄，台南東區、高雄等區居民都紛紛向市府反映、陳情。 ==屏東縣消防局第二大隊大隊長 程冰霜== 塑膠棧板所以火勢撲滅後 還會再復燃 因為它是化學品 所以在搶救上比較困難 屏東縣政府指出，塑膠棧板成分主要為聚乙烯和聚丙烯，初步監測，一氧化碳7.6PPM、未超標，懸浮微粒也在標準範圍。 ==屏東縣政府發言人 黃建嘉== 出來的物質的話 主要是以甲烷和一氧化碳為主 而且它是上升氣流 所以並不會對土地造成立即傷害 但是不管是空氣也好 土地也好 水源也好 我們還是會做嚴密的監控 縣府強調，起火原因還在調查，而夏季時，上升氣流會將燃燒後物質往高空帶，對一般民眾不會有影響，敏感族群可配戴口罩預防，同時將連續監測三天，而火警明顯顯造成空汙，依空汙法開罰10萬到100萬，另外，非法工廠部分，依區域計畫法裁罰6到30萬。 記者 李淑蘭 陳顯坤 孟昭權 屏東報導