Large number of Georgia residents Already reeling from the effects of Hurricane Helen For the past week, they have been grappling with the fallout from another disaster. It's a hell of a chemical factory, where the area is covered in toxic gas.
The dangerous fire broke out last Sunday at the BioLab plant in Rockdale County, southeast of Atlanta, just days after the killer cane hit the state, officials said.
The disaster had nothing to do with the weather disruption, as a malfunctioning fire sprinkler head sprayed water onto volatile chemicals, starting a chain reaction that ended in a plume of colorful, toxic smoke high into the sky. It is said that he received it.
Over the course of the week, 17,000 people were evacuated from the area and another 90,000 were ordered to evacuate in place as ominous plumes of smoke loomed over Gujo, spewing chlorine gas.
BioLab said on its website that county officials extended the curfew until the end of last week as the HAZMAT team worked to contain the “ongoing response.”
The county had already been hit hard by Helen, which caused damage, including downed power lines and trees hitting several local homes.
County Fire Chief Marian MacDonald told reporters the toxic inferno was the third fire at the Rockdale plant.
Federal authorities are currently investigating Biolab for possible corner-cutting, and this is not the first time this has happened.
“We have sent investigators to the scene to determine the cause of this dangerous incident and the safety deficiencies at the facility that led to this massive fire outbreak,” said Steve Owens, chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. “We are sending them to Japan,” he said.
BioLab makes trichloroisocyanuric acid, which is used to kill bacteria in pools and spas. Although TCCA is safe when dissolved in water, contact with small amounts of water can cause an explosive reaction, producing chlorine gas.
According to a CSB investigation last year, two fires occurred at BioLab's factories in 2020. One incident occurred when stormwater from Hurricane Laura leaked into a factory in Louisiana, and the other resulted from exposure of factory workers and nine firefighters to toxic fumes at a Rockdale Parish site.
The investigation uncovered numerous shortcuts and shoddy safety procedures at the site, including buildings that were not prepared for extreme weather events, “inadequate and largely non-functional fire protection systems, and a lack of automatic sprinkler systems,” the report said. states.
in email The company told WSB-TV Atlanta that it has “rebuilt its production facility with numerous enhanced safety features.”
Ironically, one of those safety features, automatic sprinkler heads, was blamed for the recent fire, according to county officials.
Some industry insiders don't buy that explanation.
“Throughout my career as a firefighter, fire official, fire chief, and state fire marshal, I have never experienced a fire sprinkler system 'failure' without human intervention,” said Shane Ray, president of the National Fire Sprinkler Association. No,” he said. Fire and Safety Journal Americas.
