Interstate is closed outside Atlanta as residents evacuate due to a chemical plant fire
Some residents east of Atlanta were evacuated and others told to shelter in place after a fire at a chemical plant
CONYERS, Ga. — Some residents east of Atlanta were evacuated while others were told to shelter in place Sunday to avoid contaminants from a chemical plant fire that sent a massive plume of dark smoke high into the sky that could be seen from miles away.
Interstate 20 was shut down in both directions in the area, the Georgia Department of Transportation said in a post on X. Reports said traffic was snarled as vehicles backed up in the area after the closure.
The fire ignited when a sprinkler head malfunctioned around 5 a.m. Sunday at the BioLab plant in Conyers, Rockdale County Fire Chief Marian McDaniel told reporters. The malfunction caused water to mix with a water-reactive chemical, producing a plume of chemicals.
McDaniel said there were employees inside the plant but no injuries have been reported at this time, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The newspaper said the billowing cloud of smoke was visible Sunday afternoon as far as 30 miles (50 kilometers) away at Atlanta's international airport south of the city. It added no injuries were immediately reported.
“Once we can get that chemical out of the building and allow it to burn off we’ll be in a much better shape,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel said she wasn't sure what chemicals may have been contained in the plume.
BioLab’s website says it is the swimming pool and spa water care division of Lawrenceville, Georgia-based KIK Consumer Products. An automated message at the phone number on the parent company’s website said to call back during business hours.
“We are actively responding to an occurrence at our facility in Conyers, Georgia,” a BioLab
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