Plastic Fire at Poly-America in Grand Prairie

A gigantic fire has been burning all night long at the Poly-America Factory in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Growing up the son of a Chicago Fire Fighter, I have a collection of old newspaper clippings made up of times my Dad or his Department showed up in the news and some of them have some pretty big fires burning in the background. I've seen a ton of big fires, but the photo of the lone fire truck in front of this inferno at Poly-America made me thank the lord my father is retired and no longer running into a mess like this. Thank god for all our firefighters.

Two departments responded to the Poly-America fire which is believed to have started after a power line either fell over or came in contact with the plastic materials according to KHOU in Houston. Grand Prairie officials report some residents are choosing to self-evacuate as they attempt to do a "reverse 911" call to residents in the area to alert them of the fire.

So far, there are no official reports of injuries despite a shift crew being on the clock at the time the fire started. Grand Prairie and Cedar Hill fire departments responded to the fire alongside a crew from DFW Airport who used their foam sprayer to assist the firefighters.

Reports of fire and smoke up to 40 miles away have been reported by WFAA as the smoke could be seen on their weather cameras in Denton.

Residents in the area are being urged to stay indoors if possible as the smoke is a result of burning plastics and materials like trash bags and plastic sheeting and would not be safe to breathe.