Communities throughout the Mid-Ohio Valley woke up Sunday morning, July 5, to an ominous black plume overhead as the Peoples Cartage building off Camden Avenue was engulfed in flame. It was a tragic, yet familiar, sight that we witnessed for the second time in less than nine years; its origins on the same stretch of road outside city limits, yet right in the middle of town geographically and very close to the Little Kanawha River.

I slept in a bit after having a few beers the evening before for the 4th of July (drinking is a lot different at 40 than it was at 20 or 30). By the time I grabbed my phone from my bedside table and opened Facebook, my feed was covered in pictures and video clips from all over the region of this latest environmental and public health threat. Fortunately, no employees or others in the surrounding area were hurt or killed as the facility went up and first responders were already on the scene.

I want to take this opportunity to express both mine and Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action’s (MOVCA’s) deepest appreciation for our first responders and for everyone who had a hand in containing and extinguishing this fire. I also want to thank all the community members who came together to provide first responders and others with resources through incredibly generous donations and who coordinated those donations and got them where they were needed.

Thank you in particular to St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, West Virginia Fights Back, WVUMC Disaster Response Ministries, Shauna Hyde, Peshka Calloway, Shawn Brown, Xavier Ray Linko-Looper, Brian Hayden Sr., Greg Sanders, Meghan Congrove, Wheeling DSA, Ashley Brooke Ramsden, Ohio Valley Mutual Aid, Josh Craig, Paul Cameron, Caci Petrehn and so many more who I’m not intentionally forgetting.

These folks helped deliver N95 masks, gloves, groceries, hygiene kits, tarps and more to the area in response to this terrible incident. They also helped deliver drinking water, food, ice and other critical supplies and resources to first responders and other personnel across the area. When our communities come together like this we can overcome anything. Quick and decisive action by community members, local businesses and more has made such an enormous difference.

When I got out of bed Sunday morning, I decided I had to act quickly to help in any way I could. Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action has been deploying PurpleAir air quality monitors for quite some time as part of a statewide project led by West Virginia Citizen Action Group (WVCAG), with financial assistance via grant funding from the West Virginia Rivers Coalition. I knew that I still had at least six monitors in my garage, so I got to work.

I reached out to folks who had expressed interest in deploying an air monitor on their properties, grabbed the box of monitors and power cords and ran out the door. My first stop was out on Volcano Road by Mountwood Park, where one of MOVCA’s Board Members had an air quality monitor that had been purchased for her directly by her son that she had been waiting patiently to get up and running. I helped her and her husband get that monitor mounted and on the PurpleAir map.

I went from there to two separate residences in Williamstown, where I was also able (after a little troubleshooting) to get monitors successfully deployed and on the map. I then circled around back to Parkersburg and deployed two more on different sides of North End. The following day, after picking up the sixth monitor from a friend who was going to deploy it at a relative’s home but decided it could wait until we’ve obtained more, I deployed the sixth and final monitor in two days on Southside very close to the fire itself.

On that last install, independent journalist Michael Bowman joined me to film the process of installation and interview both myself and the homeowner. I’m so grateful that Michael came to town to use his very large online platform to draw attention to this man-made local crisis with integrity and genuine concern. I’m also incredibly grateful to local WTAP Reporter Chase Campbell (who is always quick to reach out to our organization at times like these and who does incredible reporting work) for interviewing me as soon as possible after all this to get the scoop about the deployment of the air monitors.

The WVDEP and U.S. EPA do air quality monitoring and conduct testing on water impacts and more and I’m not diminishing the importance or significance of that work, especially since those results become part of official incident records and can be used to influence any potential rulemaking or lawmaking going forward. That said, empowering citizens to be able to monitor air quality in real time by providing and installing monitors that cost about $340 apiece if purchased directly is work I’m so proud to take part in.

If you visit map.purpleair.com, you’ll find a total of 17 monitors deployed and reporting data throughout Wood County, 14 of which have been deployed by us at MOVCA, with more to come on both sides of the Ohio River. Our organization continues the fight, alongside others, to make sure that this community air monitoring data can be utilized in rulemaking and lawmaking in both West Virginia and Ohio, which certain West Virginia state legislators have tried to prevent.

Requirements for getting an air monitor installed are an outdoor power source (or indoor power source that can be safely accessed from outside), wi-fi connection and a place to safely mount the monitor using a screw or zip ties. If you’d like to join folks in North and South Parkersburg, Vienna, Williamstown, Washington/Lubeck and Walker in getting an air monitor, please email me at either ericengle85@yahoo.com or ericdengle85@gmail.com, or reach me through Facebook Messenger. Once we are restocked, I will be happy to coordinate with you on getting you a free monitor (while supplies last).

Eric Engle is board president of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.