The threat of an ammonia leak from a burning seafood plant in a coastal Oregon city has been contained, authorities said, hours after a fire erupted, prompting evacuations over fears of potential health risks.
Between 30 and 40 people were inside Pacific Seafood in Newport when flames broke out in the freezer facility just before 9 a.m. Sunday, causing part of the building to collapse, according to officials.
It's currently unclear how the fire started, city spokesperson John Fuller said.
Firefighters battled the blaze into the evening after thick plumes of smoke billowed over the quiet fishing hub, which is located 90 miles southwest of Portland and has just over 10,000 residents.
An initial one-mile evacuation order, prompted by concerns that the smoke contained ammonia, included large swaths of the small city that local officials tout as the heart of the Oregon Coast. This was later reduced to just a few blocks around the plant.
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"Driving through that thick smoke … It was thick enough that I couldn't see the side of the road," Oregon resident Coby Bertalotto told CNN. "I was very cautious," Bertalotto said.
He described the smell outside as "rubbery."
One firefighter was taken to the hospital due to exhaustion, officials said. There were no other reported injuries, Fuller confirmed.
Newport is a major producer of Dungeness crab and shrimp, and the Oregon Coast Aquarium, in the city, draws thousands of visitors annually. Nearby are several tourist attractions such as candy stores, bars and Ripley's Believe It or Not.
The blaze is likely to result in economic impacts as officials continue to assess damages due to Pacific Seafood's status as a major employer in the city, said Newport Mayor Jan Kaplan.
On Sunday morning, city officials had urged people to stay inside if they were in Newport, which is around 9 square miles.
"If you must go outside, you should wear a mask," a statement from city officials said. Officials initially identified low traces of ammonia in the smoke from the ongoing fire, Fuller said.
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The building that caught fire has been in operation since 1946, officials said. The roughly 11,000-square-foot building is a freezer facility, a similar type of food storage to the cold-storage warehouse in Los Angeles that caught fire last summer and burned for days. The cleanup of the aftermath took more than two months.
Newport Fire Chief Rob Murphy said firefighters worried the building could fully collapse and damage ammonia tanks, causing a dangerous leak. As of Sunday afternoon, the threat of collapse has been reduced and the tanks are stabilized and will remain so, he said.
Anhydrous ammonia is used in refrigeration at the facility, the Oregon State Fire Marshal said in a news release. State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple said the ammonia tank was found and did not appear to be punctured or leaking.
The Oregon State Fire Marshal earlier said it responded to the incident with a hazmat team because of the chemicals inside the facility. The team is using specialized equipment to monitor the air and modeling where there might be impacts to help with evacuations, state officials said in an update.
A spokesperson for Pacific Seafood said in a statement the company was not aware of injuries and all employees have been accounted for.
"Pacific Seafood is devastated by today's fire in Newport," Ashton Meier, the company's vice president of resource sales and processing, said in a statement. "Although we are still working with emergency response officials to determine the full extent of the damage, we expect that it will be a major loss."
Exposure to high levels of ammonia in the air may cause irritation to the skin, eyes, throat, and lungs and cause coughing and burns, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Some people with asthma may be more sensitive, the agency said.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN's Laura Sharman, Nic F. Anderson and Maria Aguilar Prieto contributed to this report.
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