BLOOMINGTON, Indiana - After lead flakes were everywhere in nearby houses, yards, and driveways during a fire training exercise, the City of Bloomington is providing lead cleanup and remedial measures.

The fire department conducted several days of on-site training in a house on High Street, and finally burned down the building on November 5.

"I walked down and watched with many other neighbors," said Matt Murphy, who lives across the street. 

"Then, I saw the huge paint flakes, and I thought,'Oh my God!' I immediately thought of lead because this house is an old house," Faber said.

As a contractor, Murphy went to a paint shop, took a 3M lead test kit, and started testing some chips. He said that their results were positive.

The neighbors called the fire department to the police. According to the city’s press release, firefighters led by Chief Jason Moore “have been investigating nearby areas, collecting debris, and conducting door-to-door surveys of residents and recording the distribution of debris.”

The city also contacted the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to "prioritize testing of debris... to determine its toxicity level. Preliminary test results indicate the presence of lead in the collected samples."

According to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), the Bloomington Fire Department applied for approval for burn training through the Office of Air Quality on September 7 and was approved on September 17. 

Moore told 13News in an email, "Our department has followed all the requirements of Indiana Department of Environmental Management inspectors to evaluate properties." "Lead paint is not one of the testing standards, so before the approved live ammunition training evolves It has not been tested for lead."

An IDEM spokesperson confirmed that “Indiana’s open burning laws do not prohibit the burning of lead paint.”

"It shocked me," Faber said. "As residents of Bloomington, we can't even burn leaves in our garden."

"We know that lead is toxic. There is no safe level of lead. I can't believe that it is permissible or possible to burn lead in densely populated areas," said Jane Robinson, who also lives nearby.

Murphy said: "I hope this incident will lead to some changes, whether it is the most direct in Bloomington, or hopefully further afield."

"If I were a neighbor and I had children, I would be very worried," said Dr. Gabriel Filipeli, a professor and executive director of the Institute of Environmental Resilience at Indiana University. “Once you burn [a] the house, the paint will degrade and turn into ashes. For example, if there is lead on the bottom layer, it may indeed be scattered around and cause potential harm to children.”

Filippelli is assisting neighbors with their own lead samples. As of Tuesday afternoon, the results have not yet come out.

The Bloomington Fire Department has established a website for residents who wish to perform exterior repairs to their homes. You can also contact them at 812-349-3891.

Information about lead paint can be found here. The Open Burning Rule (326 IAC 4-1) does not prohibit the burning of lead paint. However, IDEM recommends that any fire protection training follow lead safety work practices.

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