(Breaking Now)Apex, NC, Plant Fire, Explosions Lead To Evacuations (15,000 people)

WRAL TV ^ | October 6, 2006

[Cindy]

http://www.wcnc.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8KJ02G00.html

"Thousands evacuated from Apex because of hazardous material fire"

10/06/2006

By WILLIAM L. HOLMES / Associated Press


ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Radford said Apex and Wake County had declared a state of emergency, starting the process of asking for federal assistance.

"It's quite scary," said Apex resident Andrew Smith, who lives about a mile west of the fire, just outside the evacuation zone. "The sky is definitely lit up. We can see a big column of smoke and occasionally flashes of light from explosions.""

[good old days]

Thank you.

[raygun]

Although molecular chlorine is an "oxidiser", in that it'll remove hydrogen from another substance, or it'll donate electrons to a reducing agent, its not as bad as its chlorated, perchlorated, pentachlorated, etc. forms where there's a whole boat-load of oxygen to donate for combustion.

A mixture of Chlorine and Hydrogen explodes when exposed to sunlight to give Hydrogen Chloride. In the dark, no reaction occurs, so activation of the reaction by light energy is required.

Cl₂ + H₂ ==> 2 HCl

Chlorine combines directly with most non-metals (except with Nitrogen, Oxygen and Carbon, C). Chlorine combines directly with all metals forming metal chloride salts.

Chlorine gas supports the vigorous combustion of many elements to form their chlorides. For example, Sulphur and Phosphorus burn in the gas.

Cl₂ + S ==> Scl₂

8 Cl₂ + 2 P ==> PCl₃ + PCl₅

Acetylene will spontaneously combust in contact with chlorine.

CaC₂ (s) + 2 H₂O (l) --> H₂C₂ (g) + Ca(OH)₂ (aq)

Na⁺OCl^- (aq) + HCl (aq) --> Cl₂ (g) + H₂O (l) + Na⁺

H₂C₂ (g) + Cl₂ (g) --> HCl (aq) + HC₂Cl (g) = boom!

This reaction is not what one might first expect, since it is not the product of the addition of the halogen across the carbon-carbon triple bond. The product is formed by the abstraction of hydrogen from the hydrocarbon.

[NinoFan]

One DUmmie's thoughts on the matter:

"Gee; I guess it's a good thing we didn't see...

two cities like that go up on the same night; then it might look like it was terrorism, or something. Instead of the negligence of the freemarketeers who ran whatever it was that just blew thousands of gallons of chlorine gas in to a suburb."

[Jackknife]

Thanks. Fortunately, I will be going to western N.C.

[Cindy]

http://www.wcnc.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8KJ1ROO0.html

"Thousands evacuated from Apex because of hazardous material fire"

10/06/2006

By WILLIAM L. HOLMES / Associated Press


ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Additional evacuations may be necessary Friday depending on changes in wind direction, Mayor Keith Weatherly said at an early morning news conference Friday.

No serious injuries were immediately reported, although a spokeswoman at Raleigh's Rex Healthcare hospital said six people were in good condition as they received oxygen because of respiratory problems. A spokeswoman at WakeMed hospital in Raleigh said two people came there as a precaution.

Ten police officers and one firefighter reported nausea and respiratory distress, Radford said. They were being decontaminated before being taken to a hospital for treatment, he said."

[Cindy]

http://www.wral.com/news/10012555/detail.html


"Apex Under State Of Emergency After Chemical Fire
Town Officials Threaten Sightseers With Arrest"

POSTED: 10:47 pm EDT October 5, 2006
UPDATED: 6:14 am EDT October 6, 2006
APEX, N.C. --

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Authorities had to move their command post three times to get downwind of the explosions and gas plume."

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Cregg Johnson, a truck driver who hauls materials to and from EQ, said he was sleeping in his tractor-trailer cab outside the plant Thursday night when a firefighter pulled him out to evacuate as part of the building was engulfed in flames.

"As we were headed off, barrels started blowing, and it just sounded like thunder," Johnson said. "I saw black smoke in the air and it was going south, and I told the firefighters I was heading north.""


ARTICLE SNIPPET: "State environmental officials fined EQ $32,000 in March for failing to minimize the possibility of a release of hazardous-waste materials or implement a contingency plan for a possible release.

Town officials were unaware of the fine and would be discussing the matter with state officials, Weatherly said."

[Tax-chick]

a firefighter pulled him out to evacuate as part of the building was engulfed in flames

Either a firefighter, or an angel in disguise. DANG!

[Alia]

Thanks for the heads-up, Howlin.

NC *Ping*

Please FRmail Constitution Day OR TaxRelief OR Alia if you want to be added to or removed from this North Carolina ping list.

[SunnyUsa]

My friend is moving to NC this weekend! (west of this area)

[Faith65]

My whole family lives in Raleigh. There is no real coverage up here in the Northeast about the current situation down in NC. Thank God for live internet feeds. How bad is this now?

[Old_Mil]

I suppose it could be an industrial accident, but it certainly seems like we've had a lot of them since 9/11.

[Alia]

This is an event in which I wish to THANK the MSM for their coverage, their repeated attempts to educate and warn people. Spread word about closings, school closings. A number of people I know who work near the Apex area have informed their employees that they have the day off today.

[SheLion]

Howlin, what county is this in????

[TC Rider]

Howlin, thanks for staying up with this all night, I hope you're catching a cat nap now.

I live in Holly Springs these days.

I just heard the cloud is going in the other direction and is now at the intersection of 55 and 64.

I'm off today, the sweet thing and I are off to Boone for some fun in the mountains. The trick now is finding a way out of town that doesn't go through Apex.

[SheLion]

I have a friend who is a fireman there. He lives just below Raleigh. I was wondering if his unit had to get involved in this.

He lives in Lee County.

[TC Rider]

I'm in nearby Holly Springs. We're now getting a steady rain with showers expected for the rest of the day.

Any chance this will help the situation? (it's not helping the traffic at all)

[PA-RIVER]

No Muslims seen running from the scene,

Must be Bushes fault....

[Cate]

Egads... We had a 'small' spill of chlorine in our area. At the time I was working in a family practice office and the poor patients that were exposed to this stuff. Your lungs are not built to inhale big clouds of this stuff. Permanent disability and early death are definite side effects of this stuff. If you are in the area, drop everything and get out the second the authorities say so.

[TC Rider]

I suppose it could be an industrial accident, but it certainly seems like we've had a lot of them since 9/11.

Local news just had on a rep from NC NRCD (State office of Natural Resources Community Development), they stated that the company had been fined 32K this past summer for multiple violations of storage and handling of hazardous waste.

I don't think we can hang this one on the terrorists