70,000 evacuated amid Texas chemical facility fire
Fire at a chemical storage warehouse in Bryan, Texas has prompted the evacuation of about 70,000 people; officials plan for the evacuation of students at Texas A&M University in nearby College Station
A fire at a chemical storage warehouse in Bryan, Texas, has prompted the evacuation of about 70,000 people, according to the town’s fire marshal. There have been no reports of major injuries, Marc McFeron said, but some people have been hospitalized for skin irritation and smoke inhalation.
Los Angeles Times’s Kate Linthicum writes that the fire broke out around 11:45 a.m. Central time at a fertilizer factory on the outskirts of Bryan, 100 miles northwest of Houston.
McFeron said the factory, El Dorado Chemical Co., stores large amounts of ammonium nitrate, a potentially explosive chemical. Firefighters said they were relieved that there were no explosions during the blaze. “Praise the lord for that,” McFeron said.
The fire sent a thick plume of smoke into the air, blanketing all of Bryan. “It almost looks like a haze throughout the whole city,” he said. McFeron said it was too dangerous for fire crews to go near the factory fire, so they planned to let it burn out. Meanwhile, he said, emergency crews would be monitoring the town’s air quality.
The smoke was generally drifting north. McFeron said that if it moved southward toward nearby College Station, officials might evacuate students at Texas A&M University.
