Waxahachie, TX chemical plant fire results in 1000 evacuations

Nearly 1,000 residents are evacuated as a result of the chemical plant fire in Waxahachie, TX, but they are expected to return this afternoon.

Workers were mixing chemicals at Magnablend, Inc., the company which owns the Waxahachie, TX plant, when the process went awry and sparked a massive fire which has consumed the facility in a dramatic conflagration.

Orange flames and roiling black plumes shot into the sky, forcing the evacuation of residents, schoolchildren and college students in the immediate vicinity. Residents not immediately under threat of the engulfing inferno were advised to stay indoors and keep the windows and doors locked, to prevent inhalation of toxic fumes. No one is sure which chemicals sparked the fire, and it is anyone’s guess at this point what sort of chemicals are being released into the air as a result of the accident. Early reports by the EPA measuring air quality around the site did not reveal anything which would pose a serious threat to health. The EPA continues to monitor the situation.

The blaze quickly overwhelmed a sprinkler system and consumed a fire truck, but otherwise, no injuries were reported. The Waxahachie Fire Department is expected to quell the flames by late afternoon and allow the 1,000 residents evacuated to return to their homes.

Magnablend spokesman Donald Golden said that 25 to 30 employees who were inside the plant's 100,000-square-foot warehouse evacuated safely when the fire broke out before 11 a.m. He said that the company manufactures about 200 products, including some that are hazardous when ignited.

According to the company website, Magnablend manufactures custom chemicals for a variety of industries, including: oil field, agriculture, pet food and feed supplements, water treatment, construction and industrial cleaning. The Internet page further reads that the company has been blending for the specialty fertilizer industry for 30 years. To that end, it stores such combustible materials as anhydrous ammonia, urea, potash, nitric acid, diammonium phosphate, phosphorous and phosphoric acid. It is not immediately clear whether these chemicals were present at the plant.

Ellis County emergency management officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for an apartment complex, an elementary school and a junior college near the facility. Sheriff's officials urged residents and the curious not to drive toward the area of the fire.

Magnablend has been in compliance with its state permits according to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality spokeswoman Lisa Wheeler. A public records search revealed no significant violations for the company.

Source:
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kera/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1859453/North.Texas/Roundup.Large.Fire.At.Waxahachie.Chemical.Plant
http://www.magnablend.com/index.php

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