Georgia chemical plant fire forces over 90K residents to shelter in place
Global News
The haze and chemical smell had spread to Atlanta by Monday morning, prompting firefighters to use detectors to check the air quality in various parts of the cit.
A weekend fire that sent a massive plume of dark smoke into the Georgia sky has led to complaints about a strong chemical smell and haze several miles away across metro Atlanta, where some schools canceled outdoor activities and residents living near the fire sheltered at home.
More than 90,000 people east of Atlanta were told to keep sheltering in place Monday, a day after the chemical plant fire.
The haze and chemical smell had spread to Atlanta by Monday, prompting firefighters to use detectors to check the air quality in various parts of the city, Mayor Andre Dickens said.
“We are sending investigators to the site to determine the cause of this dangerous incident and the safety gaps at the facility that allowed this huge fire to occur,” Steve Owens, chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, said in a statement Monday. “Tens of thousands of people have been put potentially at risk by this catastrophe.”
Northeast of Atlanta, Arynne Johnson took her Great Danes outside in Suwanee on Monday morning when she encountered a foggy air that “slapped you in the face,” she recalled.
“I used to work at a water park, and it felt like walking into a pool house,” she 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 a statement Monday. The plant is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of downtown Atlanta.
People in the northern part of Rockdale County, north of Interstate 20, were ordered to evacuate on Sunday, and others were told to shelter in place.
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