Thousands Evacuate N.C. Town After Chemical Fire
Authorities Request Evacuation of Thousands Due to Hazardous Material Fire in N.C. Suburb
October 6, 2006
Fox News
APEX, N.C. — Authorities asked about 16,000 residents of this suburban Raleigh town to evacuate early Friday morning as they struggled to deal with a hazardous material fire at an industrial plant, authorities said.
Photo: State of Emergency — North Carolina residents evacuate Raleigh suburb by thousands to avoid chemical cloud from plant fire. (AP /The News & Observer)
No injuries were immediately reported, although a hospital spokeswoman said they expected to receive a handful of people needing oxygen.
"This is truly awful," town manager Bruce Radford said. "It is the worst potential hazardous materials fire that you can expect."
Radford said some residents who live near the fire, in an industrial area near one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in Apex, had not heeded the evacuation order and were walking on the streets near the fire. He begged them to get away from what he called a "black, smoky cloud" that was covering downtown Apex.
"They are taking their own lives at risk," Radford said. "They are putting themselves in very grave danger by being around this smoke. If you see this smoke, get away from it."
The evacuation order generally covered the west side of Apex, located about 10 miles southwest of Raleigh. Authorities opened a shelter at an elementary school on the town's east side, and Radford said it would be also be safe to take shelter at hotels in nearby Cary.
He said Friday classes in Apex schools were cancelled.
Officials said the fire started around 10 p.m. at EQ Industrial Services, a hazardous waste business that Radford said had a variety of volatile chemicals inside, including chlorine. He said when he arrived at the scene, a chlorine cloud rose 50 feet in the air. He estimated that 20 to 30 explosions had occurred at the plant.
"We're not even being able to get close to it because of the heat and the contaminate materials," Radford said. "As of yet, we've not touched this fire."
Authorities at several points during the evening moved first-responders and members of the media further from the fire. Radford said he was not sending police officers near the scene to keep people from the fire because "it's so dangerous."
The fire forced officials to evacuate Apex's 911 center and fire department, located near the fire. Radford said calls to 911 were still being received by Wake County, and the "reverse 911" system was being used to call homes in Apex and relay emergency information.
Melody Hunter-Pillion, a spokeswoman for Rex Hospital in Raleigh, said just before 1 a.m. that the hospital had been told to expect between seven to 11 patients, all of whom would need oxygen. She said that is a sign they are experiencing respiratory ailments, but she had no other details.
Radford said the fire chief of neighboring Holly Springs was flying over the fire in a fixed-wing plane to try and get a better view of what firefighters will face when they begin to attack the blaze.
"I've been hearing what sounds like fireworks — popping sounds," said Gabrielle Fisher, 25, an Apex resident who lives about a mile from the blaze. "I don't know where I'm going, but I'm getting out of here,"
According to the Web site for EQ Industrial Services, the company operates an extensive fleet of specialized industrial cleaning equipment that provides customers with a way to manage both hazardous and non-hazardous wastes.
EQ officials were on site and assessing the situation, said a man who answered the phone at the company's emergency response headquarters in Ypsilanti, Mich. He declined to give his name or elaborate.
"It's quite scary," said Apex resident Andrew Smith, who lives about a mile west of the fire, just outside the evacuation zone. "The sky is definitely lit up. We can see a big column of smoke and occasionally flashes of light from explosions."
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