After a wildfire, drinking water quality may be impacted by the thermal degradation of polyethylene pipes in drinking water distribution systems. Volatile organic compounds (VOC) and semi-VOCs (SVOC) have been detected in at least fifteen water distribution systems following wildfires between 2017 and 2024. This study investigated if plastics could potentially contaminate water directly by submerging four commercially available plastic drinking water pipes (crosslinked polyethylene (PEX)-a, PEX-b, PEX-c, and high density polyethylene (HDPE)) and one HDPE resin in water and heating them to various temperatures (100-285°C) in a continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR). After cooling, clean water was pumped through the CSTR to assess flushing's efficacy as a decontamination strategy. Each plastic leached up to 10 VOCs out of 36 VOC/SVOCs examined at the highest exposure temperature of 285°C, including various monoaromatic and phenolic compounds. Benzene, a carcinogen, leached from all plastics at temperatures of 150°C and above. PEX-a leached the greatest concentrations of most detected VOCs, where the number and magnitude of compounds leached increased with increasing exposure temperature. Flushing removed the compounds over time, but flushing was slower than expected for the more hydrophobic compounds and not so for the more hydrophilic ones, due to their continuous leaching from the plastics. Similar compounds (7 of the 12 total found) were extracted from exhumed materials from wildfire impacted water systems, including several polyaromatic hydrocarbons which were not detected in the laboratory experiments. Benzene was found to leach from all exhumed plastic pipes above maximum contaminant levels. Results confirm that plastics may be a source of contamination, flushing removes contaminants over time, and procedures must be optimized to ensure their complete removal from water distribution systems post-wildfire. SYNOPSIS: Wildfires have caused contamination of drinking water systems. This study found that the thermal degradation of plastic drinking water pipes may be one source of detected contaminants and evaluated the efficacy of flushing as a decontamination strategy.