The fire at a business on Akron's southeast side that forced some residents to evacuate on Thursday is fully extinguished, Akron Mayor Shammas Malik said in a statement Saturday afternoon.
Malik said the smoke from the fire is mostly gone, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is continuing to monitor air quality, which officials said remains at normal levels.
The Ohio EPA also started air monitoring at the site perimeter, according to Saturday's update, and while air canister samples are still being tested, no unsafe levels of airborne contaminants have been detected.
Additionally, an Akron firefighter who was taken to the hospital with minor injuries on Thursday has been released and is expected to make a full recovery.
"Now that the fire has been extinguished, the Akron Fire Department can begin their investigation into the fire and the EPA can conduct the necessary analysis on the site," Malik said in Saturday's release. "All tests are coming back in safe ranges for air and water quality and will continue to be monitored."
The Ohio EPA did determine that fire-suppression materials ran into a creek adjacent to the site. Contractors are using pumps to augment the natural breakdown of those materials by removing contaminated water, the city said.
Primary contaminants are alcohol-based materials ethanol and methanol, according to the city. The impacted creek runs into Long Lake, located three miles away, which the city said is not a source for drinking water.
With multiple treatment areas in operation, field monitoring has shown water quality beyond the last treatment location to be within acceptable water quality limits, Saturday's statement said. The work, done under Ohio EPA oversight, is expected to continue through the weekend.
Water quality samples collected daily in the creek and the Tuscarawas River are being submitted for lab analysis, the city said. A temporary storm water bypass system has been established to divert impacted storm water runoff into the sanitary sewer as a means to avoid additional impact to the creek.
Thursday's fire was first reported a little after 1 p.m., according to fire department officials. The city then began an evacuation of a half-mile area around the fire just before 3 p.m. due to what the department said was the sound of a small explosion from the building.
The city called the blaze an "unsafe hazmat situation" due to chemicals inside the building the were burning. The fire sent a wide, thick plume of black smoke high into the air, which was visible miles away in neighboring cities.
Akron fire officials said the blaze was determined under control just after 7:30 p.m. Thursday, and the evacuation order was lifted shortly afterward.
