Fire in Texas a city evacuated
A fire in a chemical factory caused Thursday the evacuation of the city of Bryan, Texas. 72 000 people had to leave their residence. The disaster, which was mastered in the evening, began in the early afternoon in the El Dorado Chemicals plant which contained huge amounts of ammonium nitrate, a nitrogen fertilizer.
A thick orange smoke completely covered the city and was visible for miles around. Ten people were hospitalized because of respiratory problems.
Shelters have been established at a nearby university, Texas A&M University, at College station. The evacuation order not being compulsory, many residents preferred to stay at home, but the city authorities strongly advised them to keep doors and windows closed, and to turn off the air conditioning. “It's a dangerous chemical plant and we didn't want to wait and see if things go wrong. We needed to act right away, ”said firefighter manager Mike Donoho.
Firefighters did not attempt to extinguish the fire for their own safety. Explosive dangers made them back down. They decided to let the fire burn itself. Several motorways in the city and surrounding areas have been closed.
Parisian news source