http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/494796.html

 

Thousands evacuated in Apex as fire sends chemical cloud across town

 

A fireball rises over the EQ North Carolina plant on Investment Boulevard in Apex.

Staff photo by Chris Seward

 

By Sarah Ovaska, Toby Coleman and Josh Shaffer, Staff Writers

 

APEX - Flames shot 200 feet high and a cloud of chlorine gas formed over this western Wake County town late Thursday after a late-night explosion at a hazardous waste storage and handling facility, forcing more than 15,000 people to evacuate.

The fire raged out of control past midnight, and firefighters could not get closer than 100 yards to it. They urged shut-in residents to close their windows and run from the toxic smoke.

 

The blaze at Environmental Quality Co. started shortly before 10 p.m. Past midnight, people were still walking under a black plume that had covered the downtown Apex area, and police were not being sent in because of the danger, Town Manager Bruce Radford said.

 

“If you see the smoke, run away from it,” Radford said.

 

Occupants of about 100 homes in the Briarcliff neighborhood, one of the town’s oldest, near Apex Middle School, were evacuated to the Apex Community Center on Hunter Street. Other townspeople were told to stay home with windows shut.

 

The “reverse 911” system was activated about 11:15 p.m., calling all Apex numbers and relaying emergency information. Police and other emergency officials were going door to door to warn residents.

 

All schools are closed in Apex today.

 

Aircraft were to be flown over the flames to assess the fire.

 

About 11:15 p.m., authorities ordered the evacuation of the eastern side of Apex, with residents to go to Olive Chapel Elementary School at 1751 Olive Chapel Road. No one was allowed to leave the town’s sports center, where hockey and other activities were under way.

 

Anthony Ladesso, 39, was home Thursday night when his wife reported hearing something like thunder. He stepped outside to smoke a cigarette, doubting her, and smelled “a very sweet odor,” he said.

 

Soon, he saw emergency officials running past in gas masks, and a neighbor flew by telling him to get his wife and three kids away.

 

Nearby, Jennifer Zinc, 29, heard a noise like fireworks.

 

“We have our cats, and I’m pregnant, so we thought we better get out of here,” she said.

 

Areas east of N.C. 55, about half the town, were being evacuated, Radford said. He called the fire the worst possible situation.

 

Chlorine is a yellow-green gas used in the manufacture of other chemicals. It can damage eyes, skin and lung tissues and can be fatal after long exposure.

 

Environmental Quality Co. was forced to shut down a hazardous waste recycling and treatment plant near Detroit in 2005 after an explosion sparked a fire.

Edited October 6, 200619 yr by whitesoxfan101

Scary stuff.

Praying for those that have been injured and those who have had to flee their homes.

Edited October 6, 200619 yr by Queen Prawn