(SRN NEWS/AP) – More than 90,000 residents east of Atlanta were told to keep sheltering in place Monday a day after a chemical plant fire sent a massive plume of dark smoke high into the sky that could been seen for miles.
The haze and chemical smell had spread to Atlanta by Monday morning, prompting firefighters to use detectors to check the quality of air in various parts of the city, Mayor Andre Dickens said.
Closer to the source of the fire, officials said chlorine, a harmful irritant, had been detected in the air from the fire at the BioLab plant in Conyers, Georgia, the Rockdale County government said in statement early Monday. The plant is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of downtown Atlanta.
“For everyone sheltering in place, the best practice is to turn the air conditioning off and keep windows and doors shut,” the statement said.
In Atlanta, officials said they believe the hazy conditions and chemical smell is “related to the BioLab fire, but why we are seeing the change in conditions is what we are attempting to figure out.”
“Latest plume modeling indicates it moving to the northeast, which it is clearly not,” the Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency said in a statement.
Emergency management officials in Fulton County, which encompasses much of Atlanta, said people with concerns about the haze or smell should stay indoors, close their windows and doors and turn off the air conditioning.
The fire was brought under control around 4 p.m. Sunday, officials said.
There’s more of the story here: Over 90,000 Georgia residents taking shelter after chemical fire as haze, smell spreads to Atlanta – SRN News
EARLIER STORY. POSTED SUNDAY.
(SRN NEWS/AP) – Some residents east of Atlanta were evacuated while others were told to shelter in place Sunday to avoid contaminants from a chemical plant fire that sent a massive plume of dark smoke high into the sky that could be seen from miles away.
Interstate 20 was shut down in both directions in the area, the Georgia Department of Transportation said in a post on X. Reports said traffic was snarled as vehicles backed up in the area after the closure.
The fire ignited when a sprinkler head malfunctioned around 5 a.m. Sunday at the BioLab plant in Conyers, Rockdale County Fire Chief Marian McDaniel told reporters. The malfunction caused water to mix with a water-reactive chemical, producing a plume of chemicals.
McDaniel said there were employees inside the plant but no injuries have been reported at this time, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The newspaper said the billowing cloud of smoke was visible Sunday afternoon as far as 30 miles (50 kilometers) away at Atlanta’s international airport south of the city. It added no injuries were immediately reported.
More on the story here: Interstate is closed outside Atlanta as residents evacuate due to a chemical plant fire – SRN News
EARLIER STORY:
(GEORGIA NEWS NETWORK) – Fire at a north Georgia chemical plant about 5 a.m. Sunday triggered evacuations.
Fire officials say it started as a small blaze on the roof of the Biolab chemical plant in Conyers.
Sheriff’s deputies evacuated an area around the plant and issued a “shelter in place” order for part of the county.
Information online indicates the Biolab building houses highly flammable chemicals and corrosives. It’s the third fire there in seven years.