JUNE 17, 2015
CHATTANOOGA, TN
"They noticed, they received an alarm inside the control room that they had an incident and also the equipment. Made a determination something that something was going on," said Chattanooga Fire Department Tactical Services Chief Danny Hague.
Chief Hague says it was a ruptured pipe in a valve system that carried the chemical, Maleic Anhydride. He says while fighting the fire, five firefighters potentially came in contact with the chemical.
"We had three firefighters who had either a vapor or a smoke that got on them. They were just complaining of some irritation to the skin and things like that. We went ahead and did the decontamination on those parties and took them to the hospital," said Chief Hague.
Chief Hague says once firefighters weren't wearing masks at the time to help them breathe.
"These products are liquid so as long as you dont get the product on you, you usually don't have a great amount of issue as far as safety goes. A lot of the products they use are corrosive so if you get those on you, it could cause some burning, skin irritation, things like that," said Chief Hague.
Hazmat crews spent the day monitoring the air quality to make sure none of the chemicals were released into the air.
Just a block away, runners and walkers take the trails at Tennessee's Riverpark. Rick Morton says he's worked around chemicals all his life, and he's not concerned.
"If you've never been around the industry and all industries have chemicals, it probably could be a concern," said Morton.
The plant manager at NSA Industries declined to comment.
All five firefighters were treated and released Wednesday afternoon.
UPDATE: Bruce Garner provided more details in a subsequent news release:
"There were some tense moments at NA Industries at 2651 Riverport Road this morning when a fire broke in the chemical process building. When the flames erupted, the workers evacuated the site and called 911. The Chattanooga Fire Department received the alarm at 10:44 a.m. and responded to the scene with six fire companies. When plant employees told firefighters that there might be a leak of a hazardous chemical, the department’s haz-mat team was also called in. The plant had 27 employees there at the time, and all but a handful were evacuated. No employees were injured.
Tactical Services Chief Danny Hague said the fire caused the building’s automatic deluge sprinkler system to activate, which helped the firefighters get the fire under control in roughly 15 minutes. Sometime before or during that operation, three firefighters were exposed to a chemical in the plant and complained of some skin irritation. The firefighters were transported by Hamilton County EMS to Erlanger Medical Center, where they were expected to be treated and released. Two additional firefighters were transported later to Erlanger to be checked out as a precaution.
Chief Hague said the fire occurred in the rack piping system in the process building. After conducting an initial investigation, workers at the plant said the fire erupted after a line carrying the chemical Maleic Anhydride ruptured. After the fire was extinguished, workers closed valves on the line to stop the leak. Though plant employees are still trying to determine how much of the Maleic Anhydride leaked, Chief Hague said that whatever escaped the ruptured line was kept on site and did not present a threat to the public. The scene was turned back over to NA Industry employees, who would begin the cleanup process and conduct an investigation as to how the incident occurred.
NA Industries makes detergent and concrete additives. Chattanooga police, EPB and Chattanooga-Hamilton County Rescue all provided assistance on the scene."