Kenji, a male retriever/labrador mix, from the Humane Society of Parkersburg in 2023. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — Residents within a two-mile radius of the Peoples Cartage fire should take precautions with their garden produce, according to Wood County West Virginia Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources J.J. Barrett.

Barrett said local experts have been working on gathering samples, and further information regarding potential impacts of the fire on the local agriculture.

He said while that information is being collected, residents within the area are advised to take precautions when it comes to washing and preparing their homegrown produce.

“They can triple rinse their produce like tomatoes, peppers, and green beans,” he said. “Things with skins like cucumbers you can peel.”

Barrett said don’t clean any produce with soap or bleach but rather use a mixture of vinegar and water to thoroughly rinse garden produce. He said to wash your hands before preparing.

“Mix nine cups of water with one cup of vinegar to wash garden produce,” said Barrett. “Root crops are okay because they aren’t ready until later in the year.”

Barrett said to maintain basic safety precautions as well with store-bought produce.

“Anytime there’s a fire, particles are going to be released into the air,” he said. “There are microbes and bacteria in the soil that can take care of those released particles and break them down naturally.”

He said the researchers with the University of California collected samples of greenery during the California wildfires in 2017 and there were no particles such as lead, arsenic, mercury or chromium present as a direct result of the fire. Residents should continue to take precautions though until further information has been collected and released.

Information he provided was in collaboration with agriculture experts from Purdue University, the University of California, Colorado State University, and WVU Extension.

The Humane Society of Parkersburg will limit outside time for dogs for the remainder of the week as a precaution due to the fire at Peoples Cartage from Sunday.

Shelter Manager Samantha Tannous said they’ve been monitoring air quality every day.

“We have play groups every day outside but we’ve been using indoor rooms for play time just to be safe,” she said. “Today, we’re taking dogs outside but limiting time to 10 minutes.”

Tannous said although they’re not super close to the fire scene, they continue to monitor the air quality. She said there haven’t been any direct or noticeable signs from the fire.

“We’ve been limiting it day-by-day and keeping a close eye on the news and weather,” said Tannous. “We’ll keep monitoring at least for the next few days.”

She said the air quality warnings weren’t great on Monday so they kept a close watch on the dogs. By Tuesday there had been some improvements in air quality but she said they continued to monitor and plan to limit the outdoor time for the dogs for the remainder of the week.

The Humane Society of the Mid-Ohio Valley did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.

For questions and concerns about agriculture contact Barrett at 304-424-1960 or jj.barrett@mail.wvu.edu.

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com