Tenn. Chemical Storage Facility Fire Causes 700 to Evacuate

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HUMBOLDT, Tenn. – Fire broke out in a chemical storage facility, forcing as many as 700 people to evacuate homes and businesses in the area, officials said.

Homes downwind were evacuated because of the smoke, and workers at nearby manufacturing plants were told to leave as a precaution, Mayor Allen Barker said Wednesday. No injuries were immediately reported.

Firefighters were still working Wednesday evening, a dispatcher said. Some evacuated residents were allowed to return.

The fire was at the Helena Chemical Co. warehouse and office in Humboldt, a West Tennessee town of about 9,500 residents 15 miles northwest of Jackson.

Helena Chemical makes crop protection products, agricultural chemicals, seed, fertilizer and related products, according to the company’s Web site.

Officials with the Collierville-based company issued a statement saying they believe the fire was started by lightning.

Firefighters could not use water because of the chemicals in the building, so they had to wait for it to burn down before applying foam, Barker said.

Company officials said the facility includes an office for salespeople, as well as the warehouse holding products for sale to farms.

However, the fire started before business hours and no one was in the building at the time, they said.

Fire Department dispatcher Derrick Seymour said that the fire was reported around 6 a.m. and that firefighters found the building engulfed in flames.

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