A chemical fire broke out at a BioLab plant in Georgia. The incident caused thousands of residents to either evacuate completely or shelter themselves indoors. The fire created a massive plume of chemical-infused black smoke, which was discovered to be mostly made of chlorine. Marian McDaniel, a Rockdale County Fire Chief, spoke plainly about the incident and similar occurrences.
First, she confirmed the cause of the fire, which was a faulty sprinkler head. Water mixed with water-reactive chemicals, producing the fire and smoke. McDaniel explained that crews had to remove the material from the water source. Fortunately, the fire was mostly contained to the roof. However, a few hours later, the fire was reignited.
"Now we are just trying to mitigate the debris so we can offload the product," McDaniel stated. She had been with the fire department for seven years. In that time, McDaniel admitted the chemical fire was the third incident of that magnitude. Per EMS1, in September 2020, "a 'TCCA reaction and decomposition' caused another plume of hazardous chemicals to be released into the air at the Conyers plant."
Georgia Fire Chief Admits That Massive Chemical Fire Was The Third Incident Of Its Kind
Back then, staff were exposed to dangerous fumes. Neighboring businesses were evacuated, and Interstate 20 was closed for around six hours. Fortunately, as is the case with the aftermath of Georgia's current chemical fire, no employees were injured. "TCCA is used throughout the country in pool care and, when put in large bodies of water such as a pool, breaks down slowly, releasing chlorine in the water," a report detailed.
"However, when TCCA comes into contact with small amounts of water and does not dissolve, it can undergo a chemical reaction that generates heat, causing the decomposition of TCCA, which produces toxic chlorine gas."
"We have about 60 folks over at the scene working through this, so it's going to be a long process," McDaniel said of the upcoming efforts to deal with the aftermath of the fire. It will reportedly take some time, but officials are certain that any long-standing damage can be dealt with quickly.
