Hazardous Waste Plant Erupts into Flames in N.C.
Sarah Ovaska, Toby Coleman and Josh Shaffer
As a result, all Apex schools and school bus routes that start inside the Western Wake town are closed today. In addition, the Wake County Public School System said bus transportation elsewhere in Western and Southwestern Wake County would likely be delayed this morning.
The school district announced at 5:45 a.m. that there will be no bus service to Salem Elementary and Middle schools, though both will be open to students and staff today.
Apex Elementary, Apex Middle, Apex High, Baucom Elementary, Olive Chapel Elementary, Turner Creek Elementary and Lufkin Middle are all closed today.
The fire also shut down a large stretch of N.C. 55 -- a major road into jobs within Research Triangle Park -- in time for this morning's commute, along with all of downtown Apex. Town Manager Bruce Radford urged everyone to stay away from downtown.
"If they choose to come, go ahead and write their names on their foreheads and the names of their next of kin," he said.
The fire raged out of control all night, 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.
An estimated 10 firefighters and one police officer went to area hospitals, including Western Wake Medical Center and Rex Hospital, with severe respiratory problems.
By 5 a.m. today, the fire had spread to neighboring White Oil and ignited four petroleum tanks.
Russell McClelland's daughter in Apex went to Western Wake after she started choking.
"She could barely talk," McClelland said.
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. It was used as a choking weapon on the western front during World War I.
Melody Hunter-Pillion, a spokeswoman for Rex Hospital in Raleigh, told The Associated Press just before 1 a.m. that the hospital had been told to expect between seven and 11 patients, all of whom would need oxygen.
The Wake County Emergency Operations Center has been activated, the county announced at 3:35 a.m. today. Wake and Apex fire, rescue and hazardous personnel are coordinating emergency response efforts.
The county said evacuation was being recommended within the area bounded by U.S. 1, N.C. 55 and U.S. 64 in Apex and unincorporated areas. Otherwise, residents were advised to stay indoors, keep their windows closed, and turn off air conditioning or other air exchange systems.
Shelters were opened at Olive Chapel Elementary at 1751 Olive Chapel Road and Turner Creek Elementary at 6801 Turner Creek Road. More than 200 people were at Olive Chapel Elementary, and others were being encouraged to transport themselves to the shelters.
Those requiring assistance may call the Wake County Emergency Operations Center at 856-7044.
The blaze at Environmental Quality Co. on Investment Boulevard started shortly before 10 p.m. Past midnight, people were still walking under a black plume that had covered the downtown Apex area -- too close to send in police to warn them, Radford said.
"If you see the smoke, run away from it," Radford said.
The plume from the fire was moving about 5 mph in a north-northwest direction. There is no word when the evacuation will be lifted and when residents can return to their homes.
Wake County has declared a state of emergency.
Radford said he had "absolutely no idea" what triggered the fires.
He said firefighters in special hazardous material suits would scale 90-foot ladders at daybreak today to get a clearer picture. Fire officials considered it safer to let the chemical fire burn rather than try to extinguish the blaze with water or foam.
Radford also expected a white ash to coat the ground and cars near the fire this morning.
Police and other emergency officials went door to door warning residents.
About 100 homes in the Briarcliff neighborhood, one of the town's oldest, near Apex Middle School, were evacuated to the Apex Community Center next to the town hall on Hunter Street.
Officials activated the "reverse 911" system, calling everyone near the fire.
Early this morning, the Waterford Green subdivision about 2 miles east of downtown joined several other Apex neighborhoods that were evacuated, as was a Holiday Inn Express off N.C. 55. More than 70 senior citizens from Rex Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Center on South Hughes Street also were evacuated.
Area hotel rooms were filling fast, Radford said early Friday morning.
He added that the question of whether any other areas would have to be evacuated would be determined in part by the weather, in particular the direction of the wind. Today's forecast calls for a 60 percent chance of rain, cloudy skies with a high of about 66 degrees and north winds of 6 to 15 mph.
The explosion was loud and bright enough to see 5 miles away.
"It was like the world's largest bowl of Rice Krispies -- pop, pop, pop! But it was real loud," said John Echols, 28, who lives two blocks from the EQ plant. He said at first fireballs "would shoot up from time to time. It was nasty."
He took a blanket, a pillow and a "Lord of the Rings" book to the Olive Chapel Elementary shelter.
Still, some would not flee.
Pat Smith, who lives about 1 mile from the plant, wanted to be evacuated, but her 87-year-old father, Laddie, lives next door and didn't want to leave.
"He's 87 and kind of set in his ways," Smith said.
By 1:30 a.m., he had no choice. He and his daughter were ordered to evacuate.
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 sped 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," she said, cats safely stowed in cages, "so we thought we better get out of here."
Radford called the waste fire the worst possible disaster. Roughly half the town of about 32,000 was forced to leave. The plant also contained pesticides and polychlorine biphenyls, or PCBs, Radford said.
On its Web site, the company calls its Apex plant "a single stop option for your waste management needs."
The 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.
The company has also recycled deicing fluid in Michigan and Ohio. In 1994, the company entered into a voluntary consent judgment with Michigan after a fire at a waste treatment plant. That judgment included a $500,000 penalty.