JUNE 8, 2015
HANOVER, PA
Firefighters battled to contain a huge blaze at a
Pennsylvania chemical warehouse which sent huge plumes of black smoke into the
sky early Monday.
A reporter from NBC station WGAL reported hearing explosions
around the Miller Chemical warehouse in Conewago Township as he arrived at the
scene near Hanover, Pennsylvania.
Arriving at Hanover chemical fire, hearing explosions every
few seconds! pic.twitter.com/VQ5A4pQ93T
-Mike Straub (@MikeStraubWGAL) June 8, 2015
Officials issued a shelter-in-place notice for residents
within a mile radius of the warehouse, according to Adams County Emergency
Dispatch. It said hazmat crews along with local and county emergency management
teams were on the scene. According to WGAL, the smoke itself was not deemed
toxic.
The warehouse was located in a commercial business area,
Adams County Dispatch added.
Two maintenance workers were in the building when the fire
started, according to WGAL, which said there were no reports of injuries or
word on what caused the blaze.
Fire burning completely out of control multiple explosions
do to burn and chemicals pic.twitter.com/82q4WyLDEM
-911 PHOTOGRAPHY (@911Photography) June 8, 2015
Miller Chemical — which according to its website specializes
in manufacturing nutritional agrochemicals — could not immediately be reached
for comment.
Beau Bowden told NBC News he saw the huge smoke cloud as he
arrived for work on Monday at nearby UTZ Quality Foods.
"One of the biggest plumes of smoke I've ever
seen," he said. "I went to work and got into the building as soon as
possible because I didn't want to breathe any of the smoke."
Shortly after 2:40 p.m, the Adams County Emergency
Management Agency said that the fire was under control but the flames are not
fully extinguished yet. They reported that active battling of the fire will
resume after several hours of controlled burn.
"With the pond and pumps in place, responders will
knock down the remaining exterior walls of the facility and again use water in
an attempt to extinguish the fire," the agency stated in a press release.
In spite of the nature of the fire, the EMA reported that
continued air monitoring has not found toxic chemicals released into the air by
the fire.