A chemical cloud moving around the Atlanta suburbs is raising new shelter alarms

ATLANTA– Residents east of Atlanta were again warned Tuesday to shelter where they are as a chemical cloud moves over their neighborhood, as winds moved the plume from a chemical plant fire.

A shelter-in-place order had just ended Monday night for more than 90,000 people closest to the chemical plant, where a fire Sunday sent a huge plume of orange and black smoke into the air. People complained of a strong chemical odor and mist for many miles around the BioLab plant in Conyers, about 25 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.

“Because of the weather, the plume drops down and moves through the province. If the cloud moves over your area, shelter in place until the cloud clears,” Rockdale County officials told residents on social media early Tuesday.

The fire was brought under control around 4 p.m. on Sunday, officials said, but on Monday they were still clearing hot spots in the wreckage and the pollutant smoke was “moving continuously” before dawn on Tuesday. With relatively little crosswind to disperse the plume, a foul-smelling haze lingered in the Atlanta area.

BioLab’s website states that it is the pool and spa water care division of Lawrenceville, Georgia-based KIK Consumer Products. Residents in the area expressed frustration that company officials did not specify which “products” were on fire in their public statements. The Atlanta Fire Department said it tested for the presence of chemicals including chlorine, hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide.

Federal officials are investigating what led to the fire and how it was handled. The sprinkler system poured water on water-reactive chemicals around 5 a.m. Sunday, Rockdale County Fire Chief Marian McDaniel said. Employees were present at the factory, but no injuries were reported.

“We are sending investigators to the site to determine the cause of this dangerous incident and identify the safety gaps in the facility that allowed this massive fire to occur,” Steve Owens, chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, said in a statement. a statement. Monday. “Tens of thousands of people may have been endangered by this catastrophe.”

Although the chemical odor lingered in many areas Monday, “no immediate life safety concerns were identified,” Atlanta Fire Rescue reported.

Many residents were not reassured. The misty air “hit you in the face” northeast of Atlanta, where Arynne Johnson took her Great Danes outside Monday morning in Suwanee.

“I used to work at a water park and it felt like walking into a pool house,” Johnson said. Inhaling it gave her a headache, made her cough and “my chest and throat are tight all day,” she said.

Closer to the plant in Rockdale County, residents north of Interstate 20 were ordered to evacuate on Sunday, while others were told to shelter in place. But residents of Atlanta’s densely populated eastern suburbs in DeKalb and Gwinnett counties also reported seeing a haze or the strong odor of chlorine.

Hours passed Sunday before DeKalb emergency management officials said data indicated the air pollution was “unlikely to harm most people.” DeKalb’s statement said anyone concerned about inhaling the chemicals could stay indoors with their homes locked and air conditioners turned off.

Several school districts canceled outdoor activities on Monday and were monitoring developments on Tuesday before deciding whether to extend the closures.

There have been other devastating fires at the Conyers complex, which opened in 1973.

In May 2004, multiple explosions at a warehouse sparked a massive fire that prompted the evacuation of 300 people as a chlorine-laden cloud rolled through the area, The Associated Press reported, sending up a plume of green, gray and white smoke takeoff that stretched 10 miles (16 kilometers) long. At least nine people went to hospitals with complaints of burning eyes and lungs.

In June 2015, six Rockdale County firefighters were injured in a fire at the complex, and another fire in 2016 led to some voluntary evacuations near the plant, the Rockdale Citizen reported.

In September 2020, a chemical fire prompted authorities to close Interstate 20 during the morning rush hour. Biolab workers tried to isolate decomposing chemicals to prevent the catastrophe, but their forklifts slid across the wet floor amid the fumes, and firefighters were hampered by poorly stacked pallets of materials, the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board later determined . Nine firefighters were assessed at hospitals after inhaling dangerous fumes.