APEX, N.C.-
Authorities asked about 16,000 residents to evacuate early Friday after a fire and a gas release at a chemical plant. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Explosions and a fire occurred at EQ Industrial Services on Thursday, said town manager Bruce Radford.
“This is truly awful,” Radford said early Friday. “It is the worst potential hazardous materials fire that you can expect.”
Radford said some residents who live near the fire, in an industrial area near one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in Apex, had not heeded the evacuation order and were walking on the streets near the fire. He begged them to get away from what he called a “black, smokey cloud” that was covering downtown Apex.
“They are taking their own lives at risk,” Radford said. “They are putting themselves in very grave danger by being around this smoke. If you see this smoke, get away from it.”
Initial reports indicated the gas was chlorine, but a town spokeswoman couldn’t immediately confirm that.
“We do not know what kind of gas this, so as a precaution, we are evacuating people,” said Beverly Beacham.
The Web site for EQ Industrial Services says the company operates a fleet of specialized industrial cleaning equipment to deal with both hazardous and non-hazardous wastes.
Apex is a city of about 28,000 near Raleigh.
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