Chemical Fire Unlikely to Pollute, Officials Say
By Associated Press
HUMBOLDT, Tenn. – A fire at a chemical storage facility is not believed to have caused any soil, water or air contamination, emergency management officials said.
The Helena Chemical Co. warehouse fire forced as many as 700 people to evacuate from nearby homes and businesses Wednesday in Humboldt, a town of about 9,500 residents 15 miles northwest of Jackson. The company is based in Collierville.
No one was injured, and the fire was extinguished late Wednesday after burning since about 6 that morning.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation will monitor the soil, water and air surrounding the facility for a few weeks, TEMA spokesman Jeremy Heidt said.
No evidence of contamination was found immediately, he said.
Firefighters did not use water because of the chemicals in the building, instead allowing the fire to burn down before applying foam to fully extinguish it.
Jackson-Madison County Emergency Management Agency director Marty Clements said allowing the fire to burn itself out destroys the majority of potential contaminants to water, through storm water runoff, or soil.
“The heat will have burnt up the chemicals and contaminants that would enter the water,” he said.
If contamination to groundwater or soil is apparent, cleanup crews may use other chemicals to neutralize the pollutants, Clements said.
Helena Chemical makes a variety of crop protection products, agricultural chemicals, seed, fertilizer and related products, according to the company’s Web site.
Company officials said the facility included a sales office and a warehouse used to store seeds, fertilizer and agricultural chemicals for sale to area farms. No people were in the building at the time of the fire.
Fire authorities have not yet said what caused the fire, but Helena officials said in a news release that they believe the fire began when the warehouse was struck by lightning.
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