Looks Like A Rough Go Of It In Nc

[MalahatTwo7]

16,000 Asked To Evacuate After Chemical Fire

POSTED: 2:37 am EDT October 6, 2006
UPDATED: 8:04 am EDT October 6, 2006

APEX, N.C. -- Officials in Apex said on Friday morning that more people may have to be evacuated because of a massive hazardous material fire.

About 16,000 residents of the suburban Raleigh town have already been ordered out, but the mayor said that number may go up if the wind shifts direction. The area affected by a chemical cloud has already expanded.

The town manager said firefighters have had to wait for daybreak to properly examine the blaze. They're considering letting it burn itself out.

The fire in the Environmental Quality Company hazardous waste business erupted on Thursday night with a series of explosions. It's released a number of dangerous chemicals including chlorine.

The fire has jumped to an adjacent plant, apparently exploding four petroleum tanks.

Ten police officers and one firefighter are among those suffering nausea and respiratory problems, but no serious injuries have been reported.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press.

[Firefighter2230]

saying they've got it rough is an understatement I think. MSNBC is reporting that 17,000 are evacuated. And if that front hits that they are worried about it will only get worse.

Did everyone also hear about the 3 major fires going on in Memphis??

[rookienc]

Yeah things are looking pretty bad in Apex, at last report over 100 people had been transported to area hospitals. However, this is a good example of area departments working together: In addition to Apex FD, most county units have companies on the scene and Raleigh has sent a full HazMat assignment including the Regional Response Team. Apparently the RRT from Fayetteville (about 90 miles to the south) has also been requested so it appears that they are expecting extended operations. The first due guys and command made a good decision to let the fires burn and not try to just "do something."

Stay safe

[ehs7554]

I am relativly new to Haz Mat as far as being assigned to the Haz MAt team on our dept. A few ?'s...

Once the material is on FIRE, what good is a Haz Mat assignment other than collecting info on what you have?
Level I and Tyvex suits wouldn't really be what you need at this point.
Wouldn't it be more important to have full suppresion alarm assignments and then call extra Haz Mat after the FIRE is contained and put out??

[Tann3100]

Did everyone also hear about the 3 major fires going on in Memphis??

Yeah the church a high rise (22 Story I think) and one more building

[mcfd45]

Just in per cnn. Building collapsed, air monitoring around site indicates nothing alarming????? and cnn THINKS that the rain is helping them out. They must not know it may be better to let it burn then get some funky green runoff that goes into the environment.
J

[Lewiston2FF]

I am relativly new to Haz Mat as far as being assigned to the Haz MAt team on our dept. A few ?'s...

Once the material is on FIRE, what good is a Haz Mat assignment other than collecting info on what you have?
Level I and Tyvex suits wouldn't really be what you need at this point.
Wouldn't it be more important to have full suppresion alarm assignments and then call extra Haz Mat after the FIRE is contained and put out??

HazMat could be utilized for air monitoring around the incident. Additionally once the fire goes out for whatever reason the call becomes a HazMat incident. I think this is more of a monitoring issue right now, it can be manpower intensive depending on how large an area we are talking about.

[RidinBckwrds]

Just to fill ya'll in on the Apex incident-

Roughly half of the Town evacuated.
Initially units were responding to an "Unknown" haze in the area.
While onscene investigating, several large explosions took place.
Firefighters evacuated at least 1 truck driver who was sleeping in their cab outside of the facility.
Reported to be 15+ explosions at the facility.
The cloud later determined to be Chlorine.
At one point, the flames were 100'-150' in the air.
Around 12:30am the Town of Apex declared a "State of Emergency."
Several hours later, Wake County declared a "State of Emergency."
Crews were NOT flowing water for fear of spreading the chemicals/haz-materials, thus creating a much larger problem.
Roughly 130+ people had taken themselves to local ERs complaining of respiratory problems.
All schools in the area are closed.
Anyone found wandering in the evac. zone would be arrested (supposedly).
Over 300 firefighters on scene.
Several wind shifts over night meant more evacuations.
The plant is known as EQ.
The rain has helped to disapate the chemical cloud.


Apex is a Town FULL of potential hazards, including: a MAJOR LP Gas line (Dixie Pipeline), several Tank Farms, a Nuclear Power Plant, several large chemical/manufacturing facilities (including a plant formerly known as EQ ;-) ), etc. Apex has and will continue to train for incidents like this one, in order to be properly prepared for any future incidents. Obviously the 911 system was swamped during this time, but all in all the response from outside agencies went smoothly. A mobile command post was set up, but had to be moved several times due to windshifts. Given the circumstances, all agencies are performing very well together. This incident is a good example why adequate training with outside resources is pertinent to the success of any large-scale operation.

[Bones42]

Apex is a Town FULL of potential hazards, including: a MAJOR LP Gas line (Dixie Pipeline), several Tank Farms, a Nuclear Power Plant, several large chemical/manufacturing facilities (including a plant formerly known as EQ ;-) ), etc.

Mental note: Apex, NC - no longer on the list of places I wish to live. Good Luck there guys.

[Itsmy6]

It's 2:30 pm here and i was wondering if it's still burning?

[RidinBckwrds]

It's 2:30 pm here and i was wondering if it's still burning?

YES. Although the bulk of the fire has since burnt itself out, there are still several small fires burning within the plant. So far, the initial air quality tests have come back clear for the downtown area and initial water tests have also been clear. Very few evacuees are being allowed to return. I understand that some from areas which are furthest from the plant are slowly being allowed to return back home. Obviously this is going to be an extended operation and should be considered an hazardous operation until all chemicals have been contained, cleared, and removed. This particular plant deals with a wide range of chemicals and hazardous materials (sulfur, pesticides, chlorine, paint thinner, etc. etc.) so there is still a great deal of concern about what exactly was exposed to the area around the plant. Basically, it's just a matter of time and patience before the scene can be thoroughly examined. There have been brief initial inspections of the site and some aerial inspections done to see what exactly is still going, what parts are burning, etc. Also, several First Responders (police, fire, etc) were being treated for possible inhalation of the chemicals. Safety is the main concern here, time is not an issue.


Just a side note, although Apex might have it's fair share of hazards, most are isolated in an industrial area. Shearon-Harris is not located within the "Town Limits" of Apex itself. However, I think we can all agree that if something major were to happen at an Nuclear Plant all the communities close to the plant would feel the affects (Raleigh, Cary, Durham, Holly Springs, Apex, etc). Actual incidents at these facilities are quite rare... although we all know that it only takes one major incident to affect many people! Sure Apex contains several "significant" hazards, the problem is that the Town itself is not that large therefore when something like the EQ fire occurs, it ends up affecting "half of Apex!"

[MalahatTwo7]

Hey Ridin. Thanks for the update. And if it sounded as if I was downplaying whats going on.... thats not the case. Just kinda tough to know how things really are compared to what the media puts out. Hope all is going well at your end of the world.

[rookienc]

Ridin has brought up one of my biggest fears, that there would be a major incident at the Shearon Harris nuclear plant. Does anyone even know what non-HazMat firefighters would be expected to do in the event of a three mile island type disaster?

[Firefighter2230]

Ridin has brought up one of my biggest fears, that there would be a major incident at the Shearon Harris nuclear plant. Does anyone even know what non-HazMat firefighters would be expected to do in the event of a three mile island type disaster?

I would think assist in evacuation probably be ready for vehicle accidents from the rush of people trying to get out.

[ehs7554]

HazMat could be utilized for air monitoring around the incident. Additionally once the fire goes out for whatever reason the call becomes a HazMat incident. I think this is more of a monitoring issue right now, it can be manpower intensive depending on how large an area we are talking about.

This seems to be a great answer. Thanks for looking outside the thumb(haz mat guys will know what I mean). I can see where air monitoring would be a very good idea to establish warm and cold zones. Gives me something to think about.