Map courtesy of Wood County 911 Center

PARKERSBURG – Authorities have recommended a “precautionary shelter in place” for an area across the Little Kanawha River from the Peoples Cartage warehouse fire.

The notice was posted this afternoon on the Wood County 911 Center Facebook page.

“Working with WVDEP and EPA, air monitoring particulate levels have recently exceeded minimum threshold levels,” the post said.

The shelter-in-place map posted by the 911 center is along the river and Staunton Turnpike, from just south of Dry Run north toward Brown Asphalt Paving.

More details after media updates from personnel at the scene.

Firefighters Monday morning spray water onto a fire at a Peoples Cartage warehouse on Camden Avenue in Parkersburg. A fire that started in the warehouse on Saturday apparently rekindled on Sunday and has been burning since. (Photo by Jess Mancini)

The fire began early Sunday morning at the warehouse on Camden Avenue, just outside the Parkersburg city limits. Company and fire officials said it appeared a fire extinguished by the sprinkler system on Saturday had reignited and was not contained as the sprinklers were down for maintenance and upgrades.

At Monday’s Wood County Commission meeting, officials discussed the ongoing firefighting efforts.

From information at the scene and corresponding inventory sheets, Wood County 911 Director Dale McEwuen said the materials inside the structure were high carbon polymer and high carbon rubber polymer.

Sheriff Rick Woodyard said there was a section of the facility that was housing lithium batteries that fire crews managed to isolate and keep the fire away from. A firewall within the area where the batteries were stored also held up well.

Woodyard said there have been a lot of rumors floating around on social media about what was being stored at the facility with people saying they believed there was napalm, weapons of mass destruction, radioactive materials and other hazardous materials at the facility.

An excavator removes debris Monday morning at the Peoples Cartage warehouse fire. A fire that was extinguished on Saturday apparently rekindled on Sunday and has been burning since. (Photo by Jess Mancini)

“There was none of that that we know of,” Woodyard said of checks done of the area with specialized equipment used to located material like that.

“Equipment designed to look for those items found nothing of any consequence,” the sheriff said.