PHILADELPHIA—The Philadelphia Department of Public Health has declared that residents living in the area of yesterday’s fire located on the 500 block of West Annsbury Street in Hunting Park can return to their normal routines. The fire caused no recorded rise in the amount of particulate matter, or PM 2.5, or other criteria pollutants at any of the City’s monitors. Additionally, no toxic compounds were identified at the site of the fire at levels that would pose a threat to human health.

Air Management Services inspectors collected an air sample in the immediate vicinity of the fire before the fire was brought under control on April 13, 2023. This sample was run through the AMS Lab’s gas chromatography–mass spectrometer. The results of that test showed that no toxic compounds were identified in quantities that would threaten human health.

For more information on the state of Philadelphia’s air quality, please visit our website: https://www.phila.gov/services/mental-physical-health/environmental-health-hazards/air-quality/. To see real-time air quality monitoring at the City’s monitors, see this map: https://phl.maps.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=3c0d221456a14f1f81cc6b00dd997c76.