Fire at Braintree waste treatment facility forces neighbors to stay inside
BRAINTREE - A fire at the Clean Harbors waste treatment facility in Braintree forced neighbors inside, after officials warned of possible exposure to hazardous material.
The fire started after eight trailers burst into flames on the property, just blocks away from Town Councilor Elizabeth Maglio's Braintree home.
"I could also see at a certain point it turned to black smoke. We were all just left wondering what was burning that we were smelling," said Maglio.
We tried to get answers to those questions and sat down with Braintree Fire Chief James O'Brien off-camera to ask about the incident.
O'Brien blames the fire on what he's calling spontaneous combustion. He says the fire released hazardous amounts of materials including sulfuric acid and paint into the air.
Clean Harbors did confirm in a statement that materials inside the trailers self-reacted.
"What is it going to take for them to stop allowing this kind of environmental damage?" asked Maglio.
Maglio is demanding answers from agencies and elected officials.
"We need to have a regional plan to address and respond to these incidents, there should be an evacuation plan," said Maglio, who is taking safety matters into her own hands purchasing an air quality reader for her house which reached an unhealthy reading of 154.
This investigation is very much ongoing. The town of Braintree is planning a council meeting in the coming weeks to discuss the incident.
