RIVERVIEW, Fla. — Hillsborough County Fire Rescue says "high-density plastic pipes" are to blame for the thick, black smoke that billowed from a massive fire at the Mosaic fertilizer plant Monday evening in Riverview.
The fire department received 911 calls from Mosaic at 5:47 p.m. about a fire at their facility at 8813 U.S. 41.
Crews arrived to "heavy fire" at the plant and a nearby grass fire that was sparked by brush. The fires were "rapidly expanding due to high winds," the fire department said.
"We had multiple levels to deal with here," said Rob Herrin, the department's public safety information chief.
Aerials from Sky 10 showed a large cloud of black smoke coming from the Mosaic property — a result of the thick polyethylene pipes within the plant, according to Herrin.
"Think about, kind of, PVC burning except really big," he said.
Herrin explained that the fire was also particularly hot because of Mosaic's plastic pipes.
“The challenge right now is there’s a lot of heat and a lot of heat requires a lot of water," he said.
Multiple fire trucks, the Florida Forest Service and a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office helicopter worked to dump water on the blaze. The fire department spokesperson could not say whether the contents of the smoke could be harmful to nearby residents. He did, however, say that hazmat teams were on the scene.
Dustin Williams was picking up some fluid at an auto parts store with his wife when he saw the smoke. He immediately thought to head to Mosaic, where his father-in-law just retired.
“You just retired and this place is going up in flames without you!" he said to him at the scene over FaceTime.
“I was driving for Uber and saw the smoke and thought that has to be a fire," said Adora Steele, who used to work at the plant and was with her fiancé delivering UberEats orders. “So we finished our delivery and came back and saw the flames and went 'Oh my God!'”
No evacuations have been issued and no injuries have been reported.
Crews put out the fire late Monday around 11 p.m. and were on the scene Tuesday morning to check for any hot spots.
In a statement on Facebook, Mosaic said the company is working with local officials to investigate the incident.
"Earlier today, a brushfire occurred at our Riverview site during routine maintenance. Thanks to the swift action of our employees and local emergency responders, the fire was quickly contained with no offsite impacts. Our employees are all safe and we will continue to work with our local authorities on next steps.
"This event is an important reminder of the risk of fires during Florida drought season and the need to be vigilant.
"We thank everyone for the prompt response - further updates will be provided as necessary. Thank you for your understanding and we apologize for any inconvenience."
10 Tampa Bay's Chris Hurst contributed to this report.