A weekend fire that sent a massive plume of dark smoke into the Georgia sky led to complaints of a strong chemical odor and haze several miles away across metro Atlanta, where some schools canceled outdoor activities and others closer to the fire remained stuck at home. From the outside air.
More than 90,000 East Atlanta residents were told to shelter in place Monday, the day after the chemical plant fire.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said the haze and chemical smell had spread to Atlanta by Monday morning, prompting firefighters to use detectors to check air quality in different parts of the city.
Closer to the source of the fire, officials said chlorine, a harmful irritant, was detected in the air from the fire at a BioLab plant in Conyers, Georgia, Rockdale County government said in a statement Monday. The plant is located 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 Sunday, and others were told to shelter in place.
Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Christine Nesbitt did not know how many people were evacuated, although it covered a large portion of the Conyers community. Media reports said the number was about 17,000.
What should you do if you are told to shelter in place?
Emergency officials are asking residents near the plant to shelter in place. Rockdale County officials said best practices are to “turn off the air conditioner and keep windows and doors closed.”
Emergency management officials in Fulton County, which includes most of Atlanta, said people with concerns about the fog or odor should follow the same advice: Stay indoors, close their windows and doors and turn off their air conditioners.
Where else do people report their concerns?
Residents of at least three large metro Atlanta counties — Fulton, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties — on Monday reported seeing haze or a strong smell of chlorine.
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In Atlanta, officials believe foggy conditions and a chemical odor are linked to the BioLab fire, the Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency said in a statement.
Staff were testing the air Monday for chemicals including chlorine, hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide.
Smoke billows from a fire at a BioLab facility in Conyers, Georgia, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (Ben Gray/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
By early Monday afternoon, “no immediate life safety issues had been identified,” Atlanta Fire Rescue reported. Further testing was ongoing. The agency said that the fog reported by many residents on Monday morning “has begun to dissipate from the city.”
Just northeast of Atlanta, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has not detected “anything of concern” in Gwinnett County, the county told residents on its social media sites.
In Fayette County, southwest of Atlanta, Peachtree city officials advised residents with respiratory problems to shelter in place.
How are schools affected?
Georgia’s largest school system — Gwinnett County Public Schools — initially canceled all outdoor activities and events on Monday. School officials added that they have also taken steps to prevent outside air from entering its buildings. On Monday afternoon, the school system reversed course and said after-school activities could be held.
The DeKalb County School District also announced that no extracurricular activities or athletics will be conducted after school on Monday.
Near the fire, students in Rockdale County Public Schools were already out of school for fall break. In nearby Newton County, schools were closed Monday, partly due to the large size of the evacuation zone.
The fire broke out when a sprinkler head malfunctioned around 5 a.m. Sunday at the BioLab plant in Conyers, Rockdale County Fire.
President Marian McDaniel told reporters. The defect caused the water to mix with a chemical reacting with the water, producing a plume of chemicals.
McDaniel said there were employees inside the plant, but no injuries were reported, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Officials said the fire was brought under control around 4pm on Sunday.
What type of manufacturing plant is involved?
BioLab’s website says it is the pool and spa water care division of Kik Consumer Products in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
The company also said that no injuries were reported.
“Our top priority is ensuring the safety of the community, and our teams are working around the clock to respond to the ongoing situation at our facility in Conyers, Georgia,” a company spokesperson said in a statement Monday.
“We continue to work collaboratively with first responders and local authorities and have deployed specialized teams from out of state to the site to reinforce and support their efforts. We are all focused on addressing the situation as quickly as possible.”
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
