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Allegations that the public was neither properly informed about nor protected from dangerous chemical fallout from the recent Plastimet Inc. fire in Hamilton appear to be well founded. The response to the incident was woefully inadequate; the fire chief had only been on the job for two weeks and, from a public health and safety perspective, this major industrial accident was treated as if it was just a large house fire.
Plastiment was slapped with 20 fire code violations last October, including the lack of a sprinkler system. The authorities, accused of foot dragging, were to meet with company officials on July 11, 1997 to discuss the sprinkler issue. However, just two days before the scheduled meeting, 400 tonnes of plastic, including PVC, caught fire. The smoke plume travelled across Hamilton's lower north end, landing on the middle of Hamilton Mountain. Both areas are primarily residential neighbourhoods, not industrial. Many Italian and Portuguese families maintain home vegetable gardens; concern about dioxin levels in these gardens, though valid, has obscured analysis of other disturbing aspects of the fire.
Winds shifted direction 180 degrees on numerous occasions during the 77 hour fire. Swirls of dense contaminated smoke frequently engulfed the sidewalk, citizens, and the poorly-located emergency response command post and staging area. Even the catering truck was covered with soot and fallout. Responders decked out in protective clothing and SCUBA equipment found...