1 dead in Friday Elkhart fire

ELKHART, Ind. – Firefighters worked Friday to extinguish a blaze at a lumber recycling plant that killed one man and injured two others.\nFour crop duster planes were used to help contain the fire that started Thursday night, and fire departments from across the area were trucking water to the plant to help put it out.\nKilled in the blaze was Jose Espiridion Garcia Olvera, 53, of Elkhart, Elkhart County Coroner John White said Friday. He died of thermal injuries.\nOne of the men who escaped the blaze was being treated at a burn unit for second- and third-degree burns, while the other man was less seriously injured, officials said.\nThe fire destroyed a building at the plant and spread to a large woodpile, said Baugo Township Fire Capt. Tim Graves. More than 10 area fire departments responded to the plant on Old U.S. 33, near the Elkhart-St. Joseph county line.\n"We honestly don't know how long it could take to get it completely out, but now the fire is at least manageable," Capt. Sean Holmes, commander of the Elkhart County emergency services unit, said late Friday morning.\nSmoke billowed hundreds of feet in the air and could be seen miles away when the blaze first raged late Thursday.\n"I was driving down the road and heard an explosion," said Steve Deese. "It felt like it was daylight."\nFire investigators were at the plant Friday, but a cause hadn't been determined, state Fire Marshal Roger Johnson said.\nHolmes suggested that people who live near the fire keep their windows closed, but said there were no serious air pollution concerns. State environmental officials tested the air and found nothing toxic, he said.\nIndiana Department of Environmental Management officials tested air and water quality around the site, agency spokeswoman Amy Harstock said. Both appeared safe as of Friday evening.