Up to 1,000 people had to be evacuated from parts of south Dallas after a fire at a chemical plant – sending plumes of black smoke into the air.
The blaze at Magnablend chemical plant in Waxahatchie, happened on 3 October, 2011 at just before 10:45am. The fire was under control by 3:30pm but the fire department did not leave the scene until Friday 7 October at 5:20pm.
Around 90 firefighters tackled the blaze, where no one was hurt. Local police evacuated between 700 and 1,000 people – including schoolchildren from an elementary school.
The firm makes about 200 products, including some that are hazardous when ignited. Much of its business covers energy production, including chemicals used to stimulate oil and gas wells.
The Waxahatchie Fire Department said the company was making a large batch of a waste water chemical and a steam cloud came off of it and in the cloud was Hydrogen from the product. The hazardous materials commander, Ted Padgett said smoldering sulfur-based animal feed compounds left an ‘extremely foul odour’ once the fire was put out.
Environmental officials are investigating.
