Agencies meet to consider evacuation status

CHAMPION — Eliminating most of the remaining smoke and lifting the evacuation order resulting from the fire at a Champion plastics warehouse fire may occur as early as Thursday morning, Champion’s fire chief says.

Fire Chief John Hickey said late Wednesday afternoon that the heads of the agencies working at the scene will meet at 7 a.m. Thursday to determine whether conditions warrant removal of the evacuation.

Hickey said he expects the plume of smoke that has been above the site since Monday afternoon to be gone by then.

Hickey said monitoring at the site throughout the day Wednesday indicated that the air quality was safe enough for the 100 nearby residents evacuated Wednesday morning to return to their homes, but he would like to wait until today to be sure.