An explosion and massive fire at a chemical-products plant briefly prompted concern Wednesday that parts of Granby, Que., might need to be evacuated. Authorities began drawing up an evacuation plan while testing the air quality following an incident at the Aldex Chemicals plant, about 80 kilometres east of Montreal. Firefighters said that after tests concluded the air was non-toxic, the plan was called off and residents were allowed to spend the night in their homes. We didnt want to take a chance, said Pierre Lacombe, director of the local fire department. The blaze left a thick, dark cloud of smoke hovering above the southeastern Quebec city of about 63,000 people. The building, located in an industrial park, was swallowed by flames as dark clouds shifted toward the city. Within hours, firefighters said the blaze was well-contained, but they estimated it would probably take until Thursday morning to extinguish it. Ninety per cent of the plant has been destroyed, said Lacombe, who noted that firefighters worked quickly to keep flames away from the part of the building where the chemicals were stored. If the fire would have consumed (the chemicals) we would have had a whole different type of problem. But it worked. Authorities established a one-kilometre security perimeter in the area and did evacuate some neighbouring businesses. The cause was of the blast wasnt immediately known. There were people in the plant when the explosion occurred, but now theres no people there and we have confirmation that nobodys injured, Police spokesman Guy Rosseau said. An Environment Department official said that some stryene was detected in the air, but the amount wasnt high enough call for the evacuation. Spokesman Christian Blanchette said the departments main concern was preventing runoff from the fire from entering a nearby river. The company website says Aldex was founded in 1976 and makes cation resins, used in various decontamination procedures. The local newspaper, La Voix de LEst, reported that the plant has about a dozen employees. Other media reports said this was not the first fire at the plant. RSOE EDIS 2013-10-31, Canada, Explosion
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 08:28:43 +0000
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