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Fire at Richland Hills recycling facility that injured 3 extinguished after more than 17 hours

Details of what led to the fire were not immediately available.

Updated at 8:40 a.m. Feb. 26: Revised to say the fire has been extinguished.

After more than 17 hours, a five-alarm fire at a recycling facility in Tarrant County that resulted in at least three injuries was extinguished, authorities said Friday morning.

Multiple police and fire departments responded to the fire, which broke out Thursday afternoon and was put out by 8:30 a.m. Friday. Flames and large plumes of black smoke filled the Thursday air as firefighters tried to extinguish the blaze.

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The building is the headquarters and manufacturing facility for Advanced Foam Recycling.

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Three people were injured in the fire, two of whom had minor injuries, Richland Hills police said. The third person, whose identity was not released by the department, went to the hospital before emergency responders arrived, officials said. The condition of that person is not known.

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The Fort Worth Fire Department along with Richland Hills, Haltom City, Hurst, Bedford, Colleyville, Keller, Grapevine, Watauga and North Richland Hills officials, responded to the fire at an industrial park in Richland Hills at 2525 Handley Ederville Road, which is south of State Highway 121 and west of Interstate 820.

Haltom City Emergency Management initially said that the flames were a two-alarm fire, but Fort Worth fire officials later said that blaze had been upgraded to a five-alarm fire.

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The blaze sent up a dense column of smoke that was visible for about 30 miles. Much of the roof collapsed, and in several areas the walls of the building appeared to be buckling.

The fire raised questions about how the plumes of smoke might affect air pollution and public health, but Richland Hills police Capt. Sheena McEachran said air quality is not a concern at this time.

“The smoke right now is all going toward the south, which is again away from the residential area,” McEachran told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Thursday.

Details of what led to the fire were not immediately available.

Haltom City Emergency Management said Thursday that there was no need to evacuate the area, but those who are downwind or southeast of the fire should stay inside and ensure windows and doors are closed.

Around 5:30 p.m., Fort Worth fire officials said the structure had been burning for more than five hours and that the fire had been contained to one building. Officials said 150 personnel responded to help extinguish the flames.

Just after 9:30 p.m., Richland Hills police said multiple agencies were still at the site and that they’d “likely be working through the night and into the early morning.”

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Staff writers Tom Steele and Catherine Marfin contributed to this report.