Fire crews wrap up at Momper Insulation

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Two days after it started, Fort Wayne fire crews planned to wrap up their work at Momper Insulation. But the cleanup has just begun.

It was a sight many in Fort Wayne won't soon forget. Massive pillars of black smoke billowed out of Momper Insulation Sunday, as flames ripped through the building.

Because of the fire, toxic chemicals inside Momper Insulation ran into Junk Ditch. Fish were found dead in the area.  Tuesday, water samples showed the contamination has been kept to that specific area.

“Upstream from the burn site on Junk Ditch, there's no contamination coming into the site,” said Richard Hackel, Indiana Department of Environmental Management on-scene coordinator. “In the St. Mary's beyond the dam that was put in by the city, there's no contamination. Any tests we have that show contamination are in the isolated section of Junk Ditch between the two dams. So the water is going nowhere at this point.”

Fire crews continued to look for hot spots inside the rubble Tuesday, spraying the charred materials to cut down on hazardous dust. Their work is about over.

“It looks like we might be able to wrap up our efforts later Tuesday afternoon early Tuesday evening,” said Stacey Fleming with the Fort Wayne Fire Department. “When we wrap up, it means our services are no longer needed and the cleanup crew hired by the Momper family, who has actually hired an outside agency, those folks will take over any additional cleanup efforts.”

It remains a sight of devastation at Momper Insulation. Crews said the company is taking on the responsibility of cleaning up the destruction Sunday's fire left behind.

“In this case, Momper has been extremely cooperative,” said Hackel. “We gave them a deadline at the end of business Tuesday to have signed a contract for someone to filter Junk Ditch. They had that contract signed before noon.”

There's still no air or water concerns for folks living around the area. Around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, city officials announced that West Main Street is now open between Jefferson Blvd. and Leesburg Road.