A month in and the largest warehouse fire in the Tri-Cities is still smoldering, kicking up plumes of potentially toxic smoke.
Now, health officials will install stationary and handheld air monitoring devices, looking for tiny particles that can exacerbate lung and heart issues.
The state Department of Ecology plans to monitor for chemicals, including hydrogen sulfide, an extremely hazardous gas that smells like rotten eggs, and other volatile organic compounds, said Emily Tasaka, a spokesperson for Ecology.
“Hopefully this will give us a sense of which areas are receiving higher levels of particulates,” Tasaka said.
The Lineage Logistics cold storage warehouse first caught fire April 21 in Finley, Washington.