Louisiana chemical plant explodes into ball of fire as massive plume of smoke erupts into the air with more than 350 households forced into shelter order overnight
- Dramatic footage has shown the moment the Dow ‘s Plaquemine chemical facility was engulfed in flames
- A shelter order was put in place for 350 local households but no injuries have been reported
- It comes just a year after a dangerous leak occurred within the same complex
Dramatic footage has shown the moment the Dow’s Plaquemine chemical facility was engulfed in flames and nearby residents were forced into a shelter order overnight.
The footage shows a large mushrooming plume of smoke and flames engulfing the plant on Friday night.
More than 350 local households were given shelter-in-place orders and told to shut off their air condition by local authorities.
The LA 1 Highway between Sid Richardson and Bayou Jacob was also closed.
The company’s Emergency Operations Center was managing the fire and had contacted city officials, Dow said in a statement late on Friday.
A large fire broke out at Dow’s Plaquemine chemical facility in Louisiana on Friday night
Everyone at the facility was accounted for and no injuries were reported. The incident is still being investigated and a cause has yet to be determined.
The company was conducting air quality testing but no chemical leak had been detected from the Mississippi River facility.
As a precaution the state Department of Environmental Quality was sending its own crews to conduct air monitoring as well, spokesman Greg Langley said.
In an update to their statement on Saturday morning Dow said ‘As of 8:45 AM [CDT], Hwy 1 in front of Dow is open.
‘Dow and a third party will continue air monitoring along Hwy 1, within the community and around the facility.’
Dow’s Gylcol 2 Unit, where the incident occurred, makes and handles the potent flammable and explosive chemical, ethylene oxide, parish officials said.
The substance is a human carcinogen with years of exposure, federal authorities state.
Explosions at the facility in Iberville Parish shook homes in the nearby state capital, Baton Rouge, WAFB TV reported.
Dramatic footage emerged of a large mushrooming plume of smoke and flames engulfing the plant could be seen from afar in the night sky
Everyone at the facility was accounted for and no injuries were reported, the company said
The fire comes just a year after a large leak of dangerous chlorine at Dow’s neighbor, Olin Chemical, which is inside the 1,500-acre complex north of Plaquemine
One local resident, Kenneth Haydel, told WAFB what he saw from his car on Friday night: ‘Me and my family had been out fishing having a good time, next thing you know the thing blew up three times back-to-back.
‘We looked up in the sky and the whole thing was lit up and we saw all the chemical smoke right up behind it. It was a terrible situation.’
‘We knew that was nothing normal,’ he added.
Videos of the incident circulated on social media showing the large flames and a mushroom cloud moving into the sky.
The fire comes just a year after a large leak of dangerous chlorine at Dow’s neighbor, Olin Chemical, which is inside the 1,500-acre complex north of Plaquemine.
A shelter-in-place order was also given to nearby residents last April because of another incident at the plant.
The leak sent 39 people to hospital, mostly with mild symptoms, but raised questions about Dow’s placement of air monitors in the community.
DEQ and parish officials said later that the extent of the leak appeared to be have been underreported by both Olin and Dow.
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