Incident Report
Subject: 2 hurt in in Arkansas Chemical Plant Blast
Date of Email:Wed 07/01/2004
Report Detail:
A series of explosions rocked a chemical plant Tuesday, hurling fireballs
into the sky and leading authorities to evacuate thousands of people
from nearby schools and businesses. Two people were hospitalized with burns, one in critical condition,
but all plant workers were accounted for. The cause of the explosions
was unknown.
Fires spread throughout the Detco Industries plant. The plume of smoke
could be seen 30 miles away in Little Rock and was so dense that it
showed up on National Weather Service radar. Flames climbed to 30 or
40 feet, and fireballs were thrown higher.
By early evening, the blaze was about 95 percent contained, officials
said.
Detco makes industrial chemicals and aerosol products, such as cleaners
and disinfectants. The state Emergency Management Department said the
plant had hydrofluoric acid, sulfuric acid and methanol, but it did
not know which chemicals were involved in the explosions and fires.
National Guardsmen and state pollution control workers set up portable
air-quality monitors as a gray cloud rose from the plant, but officials
said they did not believe any toxic material was being carried to populated
areas of the city of 46,000.
Emergency workers evacuated buildings within a mile of the plant, including
an elementary school, a day-care center, an adult education center,
a mobile home park, a paper mill that employs 540 and a database management
company that had 1,800 workers on site. Schools and businesses that
did not close were on standby in case the wind shifted. The city's airport
was closed briefly so people who work near the plant could cut across
the runways to escape the smoke, airport manager Tim Huey said. The
Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department closed an Interstate
40 exit south of the city because all roads leading from it were in
the evacuation zone, a spokesman said.
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