Updated: Friday, May 19, 3:30 p.m.
In a statement Friday afternoon, the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment said emergency response officials were “responding and monitoring the situation and what the potential/possible health hazards are, if any.”
JCDHE urges anyone bothered by the smell or who may have an underlying health condition to stay indoors, shorten outdoor activities or leave your windows closed.
Original story continues below:
Johnson County residents are being warned to stay indoors as a fire at a recycling center in Kansas City, Kan., is impacting air quality in the region.
The county sent out an alert Friday morning through NotifyJoCo, the county’s emergency alert system.
“For your awareness, there is a fire at a recycling facility in Kansas City, Kan., that is potentially impacting air quality in northern Johnson County,” the alert said. “If smoke is detected residents are advised to stay indoors.”
According to various media reports, the fire broke out at Advantage Metals Recycling, 1153 S. 12th St., in Kansas City, Kan., just after 5:30 a.m. Friday.
That’s just north of the Kansas River in Wyandotte County, near the northeast corner of Johnson County, where the cities of Fairway, Mission, Mission Hills, Roeland Park, Westwood and Westwood Hills are all clustered.
By mid-morning Friday, some social media users reported smelling and even tasting metal-tinged smoke further south in Overland Park.
Yes, please advise on air quality. We can see, smell and taste the metal smoke at 75th and Metcalf (Downtown Overland Park) from the recycling plant fire.
— Will England (@wingland) May 19, 2023
Can smell this all the way in south OP. Can’t be good for air quality.
— Jim McCann ❁ (@JimMcCannMan) May 19, 2023
On Friday, the national Air Quality Index, maintained in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, had upgraded much of the Kansas City area, including all of northern Johnson County, to level orange.
That means the air quality is unhealthy for sensitive groups, including the elderly, children and those with heart and lung diseases.
People who fall into those groups are encouraged to stay indoors or shorten the length of outdoor activities.
Smoke from the fire was visible for miles early Friday morning in all directions.
One image from eastbound Interstate 70 posted by KSHB reporter Daniela Leon showed a wafting column of gray smoke.
On my way to a recycling fire in #KCK here’s a look at the fire while driving along 70 east bound. pic.twitter.com/N8uvsKXARg
— Daniela Leon (@danielaleontv) May 19, 2023
According to the Kansas City Star, officials with the Kansas City, Kan., Fire Department said the fire was mostly contained by 10 a.m. Friday but might not be extinguished “for some time.”
