Homes near Pomezia fire evacuated

(ANSA) - Rome, May 5 - Fabio Fucci, the mayor of the town of Pomezia, south of Rome, on Friday ordered that homes and other buildings within a 100-metre radius of a huge blaze at a trash-storage site be evacuated. He also ordered the closure of two nursery-elementary schools that fell within a two-kilometre radius of the fire.
    Firefighters had previously told residents "not to open the windows" of their homes in a tweet, to prevent them breathing fumes from waste plastic, paper and other recycled materials. The firefighters have been combatting the blaze at refuse-storage firm Eco X since around 8:30. The fire sent out a massive plume of black smoke over nearby roads and the Pontina highway, causing traffic disruption for a spell, and generating a strong stench.
    "I call on citizens to stay calm and respect the orders," Fucci said on the local council's Facebook page. "The operations to put out the fire and survey the air quality are proceeding.
    "(Environmental agency) ARPA is on the scene and installing equipment to test the air quality.
    "We will give extensive updates on all developments". Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi said that the toxic cloud created by the fire did not pose a problem for people in the capital.
    "From what we know from the notification from the ASL 6 (health authority), the fumes have not spread to the city of Rome, so at the moment we do not have critical situations in the city," she said.
    One local woman said the fire followed "a huge explosion, then lots of others in quick succession". "I was having breakfast when I hear the bang," said Sabino D'Agnelli, who lives a few hundred metres from the plant. "A few minutes later my daughter called me to say that the plant was on fire".