Georgia chemical lab fire prompts evacuations, shelter-in-place orders for entire county

Residents of an entire Georgia county were asked to shelter in place after a fire and ongoing chemical release erupted at a plant east of Atlanta on Sunday.

The shelter-in-place recommendation for residents of Rockdale County, population 93,570, was valid through midnight, the county said in a statement. As an associated chemical reaction continued to send a gaseous plume over the area Sunday night, residents near the plant in Conyer, Georgia, were under mandatory evacuation orders.

A sprinkler head malfunctioned after 5 a.m. at the BioLab plant, “causing a mixture with a water-reactive chemical,” Rockdale County Fire Chief Marian McDaniel said.

“There was a small fire on the roof,” McDaniel said.

The exact cause of the fire was under investigation, but the chief said at an afternoon news conference that the sprinkler system, and then firefighters, may have exacerbated the chemical reaction by putting water on it.

“We’ve been firefighting with water,” McDaniel said at during the update, “but the water is also aggravating the chemical.”

Indicating the material involved in the release was yet to be confirmed, officials declined to name the chemical.

Operator KIK Consumer Products said in a statement that it was responding to the incident. It said Clorox-branded pool-cleaning products are produced at the facility.

The brand’s lineup includes bacteria- and algae-eliminating products made with chlorine, according to Clorox. Chlorine is unstable and, when released, can create a gaseous and toxic plume, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

It also reacts with water and other chemicals, the CDC says.

As personnel were taking the product out of the facility, at about noon, the fire reignited, McDaniel said. It took another three or four hours to get it under control, she said.

“We now have it out,” the chief said.

Though the flames are out, the chemical reaction will continue to produce a plume for “several days,” McDaniel said.

The fire department was still working to remove the material from the building, the chief said earlier.

Asked in the afternoon if Hurricane Helene and its aftermath may have helped spark the fire and chemical reaction, the chief said it was too early to tell.

Sharon Webb, director of the Rockdale County Emergency Management Agency, said that until officials know for sure what’s in the plume, residents should stay put.

“Right now it is a precaution, until we get a reading about what the actual plume is,” she said.

McDaniel explained how residents should shelter in place: “We’ll tell people to … keep your doors and windows closed,” McDaniel said. “Any event, the wind shift, this thing can change really quickly.”

Videos on social media showed smoke billowing above the plant.

No injuries have been reported outside the facility. Likewise, KIK said in its statement that no injuries were reported among its employees at the facility.

“Our team is on the scene, working with first responders and local authorities to assess and contain the situation,” it said. “As always, the safety of our community remains our top priority.”