Smelly Smoke From Oakland Metal Recycler Fire Prompts Health Concerns

A large fire that broke out at the Schnitzer Steel recycling yard in West Oakland around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday sent huge plumes of stinky smoke across the East Bay and has prompted ongoing concerns about potential air quality risks from the burning aluminum, tin, steel and iron that were present in the large scrap metal pile where officials said the fire began.

“With fires like this, the material that’s burning, the smoke contains more things in the particulate matter. It also likely has other toxic air contaminants, including metals and volatile organic compounds,” said Michael Flagg, principal air quality specialist, Bay Area Air Quality Management District. “So it is really important to pay attention to what’s going on, if you see smoke or smell smoke, take efforts to reduce your exposure.”

Thursday morning the BAAQMD released an incident report (PDF) stating that the “large dense gray smoke plume” traveled south and east during the night, reaching as far as Milpitas, but had then shifted and pushed north.

Oakland Fire Department officials reported that it took nearly four hours to get the fire fully under control Wednesday night. But as of Thursday morning, it still had not been completely extinguished.

“The most impacted areas were immediately downwind of the fire. So that was East Oakland, West Oakland and other areas along the I-80 corridor, which are historically overburdened communities that kind of experience a disproportionate impact and exposure to poor air pollution already,” said Flagg. He said smoke reached Moraga, Dublin and San Ramon, but then with a shift in wind it moved north all the way up to Martinez.

Residents near the Port of Oakland were originally advised on Wednesday to avoid the area around Jack London Square and to keep windows closed. By Thursday, impacts were expected to lessen but continue in parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

“If you smell smoke, or you know that there’s high concentrations, our recommendation is to reduce your exposure, to stay inside, close your windows, air filtration, things like that, but mostly just to monitor the situation closely and pay attention to district advisories,” said Flagg.

But, while the air district issued an advisory, it is not forecasting an exceedance of the national air quality health standards and is not issuing a more severe Spare the Air Alert. You can see the most recent air quality data at fire.airnow.gov.

“Air District staff will continue to investigate this incident to determine if there were any violations of air quality regulations,” the advisory statement said. The Oakland Fire Department also said their hazardous materials team and EPA representatives were on the site Wednesday night to administer tests and evaluate the situation.

Schnitzer Steel — which recently rebranded itself as Radius Recycling — is a large scrap metal processing plant near the Port of Oakland that shreds cars and other large appliances. The fire started in a scrap metal pile. The cause is currently under investigation.

An initial response from fire crews contained the fire to a single debris pile, but it continued to grow rapidly, according to Oakland Fire Chief Damon Covington. Ultimately it required three engines, two fireboats from San Francisco and Alameda, and over 20 firefighters to get the fire under control. There were no injuries reported. However, because of the size of the debris pile, firefighters were unable to reach the origin of the fire and relied on Schnitzer cranes to pull apart the large debris pile.

“Until we can get all the way into the pile and put the fire out, we’re going to be out here for awhile,” Covington said late Wednesday night.

An update from Oakland Fire Department on Thursday said there was still a large amount of debris to untangle and crews continue to spray water on the pile to prevent any small fires that ignite from spreading. It is not uncommon for these kinds of large debris fires to smolder for some time, said officials.

“The company is grateful for the first responders who brought this situation to a safe conclusion,” said Tasion Kwamilele, public affairs manager for Schnitzer Steel/Radius Recycling.

This isn’t the first time the Schnitzer Steel recycling yard has caught fire. There were previous large fires in 2018, 2010 and 2009. In 2020, the Oakland A’s also sued to have the waste materials created by the plant reclassified as hazardous. At the time, the A’s suit said there had been five smaller fires since 2018. (The A’s lost the suit earlier this year on appeal to the California Supreme Court.)

In 2021, Schnitzer also paid $4.1 million as part of a settlement over “the release of toxic air contaminants and hazardous particulates” in West Oakland and across the Oakland estuary. The settlement with the state Department of Justice, at the time, reported that investigations by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control found that Schnitzer was releasing particulate matter contaminated with hazardous metals — such as lead, cadmium and zinc.

Bay City News and KQED’s Giuliana Salomone contributed to this report.