An investigation is underway into the cause of the fire at The Plant Group, a plant wholesaler on Pond Road in Franklin, early Monday morning, but police said it appears to be accidental.
The fire burned fertilizer and pesticides, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and they said the environmental impact appears to be minimal.
Firefighters responded around 4 a.m. Monday because a tree and wires were burning on Pond Road.
As they were monitoring the wire fire, firefighters saw an orange glow in the area and found a structure burning on the property of 117 Pond Road, state police said.
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The plant is in a residential area with few residences nearby and those who live within a one-mile radius of the facility were told to stay inside and keep windows closed for hours as a precaution because of smoke. That order has been lifted.
“It did engulf the entire building and there were fertilizers in the building so we notified Uncas Health and DEEP who was on scene quite rapidly and they have been taking air quality samples and we did notify the one-mile radius of residents to stay in and keep windows and doors shut,” Richard Dvorak, president of the Franklin Fire Department, said.
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Two firefighters were taken to the hospital to be treated for apparent smoke inhalation. Both firefighters have since been released, according to fire officials.
DEEP has air and drone monitoring in place said they determined that around 10 tons of ammonium-based fertilizer and a full pallet of pesticide were consumed by fire.
The air monitoring has shown low readings of carbon monoxide, which DEEP said is normal when there is smoke from a fire, and no other chemicals have been detected.
Fertilizer, peet, pesticides, ammonia, PFAS, and other toxins were involved in the fire and smoke, state police said.
A berm has been put in place to limit runoff to a nearby brook and water sampling will be conducted.
Kropp Environmental will help with the cleanup and DEEP said the company has a vac truck in place to remove contaminated water runoff.
Along with DEEP’s Emergency Response Unit, firefighters from Franklin, Lebanon, Mohegan and Bozrah responded to the fire.
Officials said the initial call was for a wire down and it appears the fire started where the power enters the warehouse, but no official information was immediately available on the official cause.
Neighbors said there were explosions and they were jarring.
State police said the fire and explosives investigation unit call called to assist the local fire marshal with their investigation and the fire appears to be accidental.
