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.