CONYERS, Ga. (AP) — More than 90,000 residents east of Atlanta were told to keep sheltering in place Monday a day after a chemical plant fire sent a massive plume of dark smoke high into the sky that could been seen for miles.
The haze and chemical smell had spread to Atlanta by Monday morning, prompting firefighters to use detectors to check the quality of air in various parts of the city, Mayor Andre Dickens said.
Closer to the source of the fire, officials said chlorine, a harmful irritant, had been detected in the air from the fire at the BioLab plant in Conyers, Georgia, the Rockdale County government said in statement early Monday. The plant is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of downtown Atlanta.
“For everyone sheltering in place, the best practice is to turn the air conditioning off and keep windows and doors shut,” the statement said.
In Atlanta, officials said they believe the hazy conditions and chemical smell is "related to the BioLab fire, but why we are seeing the change in conditions is what we are attempting to figure out.”
“Latest plume modeling indicates it moving to the northeast, which it is clearly not," the Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency said in a statement.
Emergency management officials in Fulton County, which encompasses much of Atlanta, said people with concerns about the haze or smell should stay indoors, close their windows and doors and turn off the air conditioning.
The fire was brought under control around 4 p.m. Sunday, officials said.
Interstate 20, which was shut down in both directions in the area Sunday, was reopened Monday morning, officials said. Some other roads in the county and county government offices were closed.
People in the northern part of Rockdale County, north of Interstate 20, were ordered to evacuate on Sunday, and others were told to shelter in place.
Sheriff’s office spokesperson Christine Nesbitt did not know the number of people evacuated, although it covered a large portion of the community of Conyers. Media reports said the number was 17,000.
The fire ignited when a sprinkler head malfunctioned around 5 a.m. Sunday at the BioLab plant in Conyers, Rockdale County Fire Chief Marian McDaniel told reporters. The malfunction caused water to mix with a water-reactive chemical, producing a plume of chemicals.
McDaniel said there were employees inside the plant, but no injuries have been reported, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
BioLab’s website says it is the swimming pool and spa water care division of Lawrenceville, Georgia-based KIK Consumer Products.
The company also said that no injuries were reported.
“Our top priority is ensuring the community’s safety, and our teams are working around-the-clock to respond to the ongoing situation at our facility in Conyers, Georgia," a spokesperson said in a statement Monday. "We continue to work collaboratively with first responders and local authorities and have deployed specialized teams from out of state to the site to bolster and support their efforts. We are all focused on remediating the situation as rapidly as possible.”
A small fire on the plant’s roof was initially contained but reignited Sunday afternoon, authorities said.
In this image taken from video from WSB-TV, smoke rises from the roof of a BioLab plant, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Conyers, Ga. (WSB-TV via AP)
In this image taken from video from WSB-TV, smoke fills the air from a fire at the nearby BioLab plant, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Conyers, Ga. (WSB-TV via AP)
Smoke billows from a fire at the BioLab facility in Conyers, Ga., Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (Ben Gray/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
Hurricane Helene is shifting the presidential candidates’ plans this week.
Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is cutting short a campaign visit to Las Vegas to return to Washington for briefings. Republican candidate Donald Trump is heading to Georgia to see the storm’s impact.
Hurricane Helene’s death toll is more than 100 people and rising, with some of the worst damage caused by inland flooding in North Carolina.
In addition to being humanitarian crises, natural disasters can create political tests for elected officials, particularly in the closing weeks of a presidential campaign.
Presidents typically avoid racing toward disaster zones so they don’t interfere with recovery efforts. The White House said Harris would visit impacted areas “as soon as it is possible without disrupting emergency response operations.”
President Joe Biden was scheduled to speak about his administration’s response to Hurricane Helene on Monday morning. He plans to visit areas affected by the storm later this week, with efforts to not disrupt response efforts.
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Here’s the latest:
Vice President Kamala Harris says she’s been clear about her racial identity and background and doesn’t listen to questions about it raised by critics, including her presidential race opponent, Republican Donald Trump.
Asked about criticism about her identity on an episode of the “All the Smoke” podcast that was released Monday, Harris responded, “I don’t listen to it.”
“I’m really clear about who I am,” she said. “And if anybody else is not they have to go through their own level of therapy.”
Harris said she’s happy to discuss her identity more fully, but that really doing so would require an hours-long discussion about the role of race in America.
“My mother was very clear. She was raising two Black girls to be two proud Black women,” Harris said. “And it was never a question.”
Vice President Kamala Harris says of the infamous blind date where she met her husband, Doug Emhoff, “I just have a really bossy best friend.”
Set up by especially persuasive friends, Harris told an episode of the “All the Smoke” podcast that was released Monday that Emhoff picked her up for the date in a BMW. He immediately divulged, “I’m a really bad driver,” she recalled.
“I guess he was trying to create a little expectation,” Harris said.
She said the pair then went to Emhoff’s favorite restaurant where people who worked there “were like, ‘Hey Doug.’” She didn’t name the restaurant.
At the beginning of a rally in Las Vegas on Sunday, Harris said “we will stand with these communities for as long as it takes to make sure that they are able to recover and rebuild.”
Trump, speaking in Erie, Pa., on Sunday, described the storm as “a big monster hurricane” that had “hit a lot harder than anyone even thought possible.”
He criticized Harris for attending weekend fundraising events in California while the storm hit.
“She ought to be down in the area where she should be,” Trump said.
The White House said Harris would visit impacted areas “as soon as it is possible without disrupting emergency response operations.” She also spoke with Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina, and she received a briefing from Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell while she was traveling.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Bayfront Convention Center in Erie, Pa., Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Bayfront Convention Center in Erie, Pa., Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Bayfront Convention Center in Erie, Pa., Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a rally on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to speak at a rally on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a rally on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
