Crews evacuate near fire on Tennessee Superfund site

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Firefighters have stopped trying to put out a large industrial fire at a federal Superfund site in central Tennessee because of fears that two 1,000-gallon propane tanks there could explode.

Kim Skelton in the Hickman County mayor's office says the fire at Industrial Plastics Recycle started at about 10 a.m. Wednesday. She says surrounding homes, schools and businesses have been evacuated.

The blaze about 45 miles southwest of Nashville sent big, black plumes of smoke into the air. Video from local television stations showed the smoke forming large black clouds that darkened the surrounding landscape.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spokesman James Pinkney says an on-scene coordinator was headed to the site. Federal Superfund sites were created for the cleanup or removal of areas in which hazardous toxic waste was dumped.

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