Thousands flee Indiana plant fire

[Desperadoe]

ANDERSON, Ind. - A magnesium fire at a recycling plant burned out of control Friday night, spewing wind-driven toxic fumes and forcing the evacuation of several thousand people from their homes.

Hundreds of firefighters rushed to the Advanced Magnesium Alloys Corp. plant after the fire erupted. Explosions inside forced firefighters out less than three hours later, although they continued working from outside the building, said police spokesman Detective Terry Sollars.

“The whole building is engulfed now,” Sollars said. “It’s a bright glow, it’s burning pretty hard.”

There were no immediate reports of injuries.<snip>

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6828869/

[saltpoint]

1. That Mitch Daniels will stop at nothing to bust a union.

----
I hope the workers are all ok. I've driven through Anderson before and got the feeling that despite hard economic times, there were a lot of good hearts street to street.

[shraby]

4. There was a recycling center that had

a large explosion a couple of weeks ago. What is it with the recycling plants?

[saltpoint]

5. Yeah. I don't know.

(also: like the Morrison avatar.)

[HysteryDiagnosis]

26. All a person who wanted to disrupt operations at such a plant is put some

stuff in with the recycling that goes "boom" if you make it mad.

[Bzzzz]

30. It's a sad, sad town...

Anderson is a pretty depressed city anymore since GM and Delco left town. The city has been plagued with scandal, i.e. several members of the Democratic party have been charged with voter fraud, The former Democratic mayor had plenty of personal scandal and then the FSSA problems that cropped up last year.;(

[melnjones]

35. Yup,

it's one of the few places where I really can't blame people for not voting Democrat. It's truly been a corrupt group around here.

[saltpoint]

40. Well, I don't know if good wishes will help, but let me --

-- send a few that way.

I met a guy through my aunt who had strong praise for the people in that city and area. His name was Joe Hogsett (sp?) and my aunt had been a volunteer on one of his campaigns.

Anyway, when he spoke of the people there, it resonated. That campaign was long over with, so I felt this guy's praise was genuine.

[melnjones]

41. Thanks:-) nt

[NYC]

2. Link to similar:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1153198

[burrowowl]

3. Which was first

but only by a few minutes.

[NYC]

6. I was just pointing out that there's another one.

People can compare articles and responses.

[shraby]

7. Here are a couple more

Both on the same date.

<http://www.dicksonherald.com/news/stories/20041229/wabash.shtml>
December 28, 2004
Dickson, Tenn.
A longtime employee at Wabash Alloys, an aluminum recycling plant in Dickson, was flown by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt University Medical Center yesterday morning following an explosion in the furnace area.

The man, whose name plant officials were not releasing yesterday, appeared to be the only person injured, according to Don Van Vleet, a senior project engineer with the company.

<http://www.channeloklahoma.com/news/4031456/detail.html>
December 28, 2004
MUSKOGEE, Okla. -- Investigators were still working Wednesday to determine what caused a series of eight explosions at a scrap metal plant near Muskogee, Okla., that left two workers dead and was felt as far as 55 miles away.

[NYC]

10. This Anderson incident reminded me

of the recycling plant fire in Tennessee. I hadn't realized there were 2 in one day.

Seems odd to me, but I guess it's just a coincidence.

[diamond14]

12. the Dixon, TN plant did most of its work for the Department of Defense

EPA posted a photo of the plant burning and a list of RCRA permits (for DOD) on its web homepage....but I just looked again, and EPA took it down....


I have no doubt that all this magnesium has a lot to do with bush* wars....the FACT that EPA and OSHA have been defunded and destroyed by bush* is doing little to keep these tragedies from occurring more and more....expect more, its the bush* policy....

[burrowowl]

23. OSHA has been seriously underfunded

for years, from Raygun on, Bu$h I and Clinton did not ameliorate OSHA's dire straits, Bu$h of course is contributing to making it even more meaningless.

[shraby]

8. dupe

[blackcat77]

9. I live in Anderson

It was pretty dramatic stuff. We live on the west side of town -- the fire was about 6 miles from us -- and the whole eastern sky was bright with the smoke cloud from the fire very bright. The strangest thing about it was how it would slowly get brigher and dimmer, brighter and dimmer...

We called our friends and relatives on that side of town and everyone was okay, but a little later, my wifes sis and bro-in-law got an evacuation order so they came over here for a while where we watched all the stories about it on tv. They said that over where they live -- about a mile from the fire -- you could hear real deep booms followed by very bright flashes as it went up.

It's pretty much settled down now -- they had tv news copters hovering overhead and what was left looked exactly like a charcoal fire -- black ruins still glowing red in spots with occasional fire eruptions.

They left about an hour ago and got back home -- they said the barricades were still up but there were no longer any policemen enforcing it.

Here's a link to the story of the fire in our local paper:
http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/story.asp?id=10006

And here's a not very good picture I took from in front of our house when the fire was at it's peak.

[NYC]

11. Is there a problem with smoke where your relatives live?

Thanks for the photograph.

[blackcat77]

18. The spokesman for the police said...

...that they didn't really know what was inside the plant -- Well, why the hell NOT?? -- and ordered the evacuation for the sake of caution. I guess the fumes are toxic in very high concentration, and I can testify that they're irritating because I remember when the teacher burned a little strip of magnesium in my HS chemistry class. It burns your eyes and kind of makes your thorat feel tight, so I wouldn't have wanted to be downwind of hundreds of thousands of pounds of it...

The fire started out real slow. On the 6 o'clock news, they had helicopters showing the building and all there was at that time was just smoke coming out some vents at the top of the building. Didn't look very exciting at all, but according to Tim, the bro-in-law, when it went up, there was a flash "bright as daylight" at their house and a boom that shook the whole neighborhood.

No one was hurt. There were about a dozen people in the building when the fire started but they all high-tailed it out of there as soon as the fire started, and considering the stuff in the building, I don't blame them a bit.

I look for there to be some stink about this once things settle down -- they said on the news that this was the largest magnesium recycling facility in the entire country and yet it seems that nobody was prepared for an emergency. The fire started at about 5 pm and didn't really get serious for three hours. At 6, when they showed it on the news, there were 2 or 3 firetrucks outside the building but no activity at all that you could see -- it was like they were just staring at it and keeping people from getting too close. But if you're going to have something like this, you better have the equipment and properly trained people to deal with emergencies, which we obviously did not.

[melnjones]

21. I was down the street from it

at 4:30, at Rex appliances. It did start pretty small, and at that point there were only like two fire trucks and a couple police officers. And yeah, our emergency system leaves much to be desired. I was sandbagging last week and it was so unorganized that it almost seemed counterproductive. What good is utilizing volunteers if they are going to make the dang sandbag walls incorrectly because no one is directing? Irritating. But then again, it is Anderson.

[DBoon]

27. Aren't facts of industrial hazards now "state secrets"

per the Bush anti-terror measures? Don't they now keep disaster plans secret in case terrorists could exploit them? Along with lists of industrial accidents, the types of hazardous substances handled, etc.

Of course the fact that it makes chemical firms less accountable for their actions to the community and workers wouldn't have anything to do with this?

We will see more of this in the future, I'm afraid

[Cori Cycle]

13. "Mr Anderson...!!!"

"The agent is here!"

[diamond14]

15. you should leave NOW....go to a motel/hotel/friends'....you do not

know what toxic chemicals are still in the air....

many toxic chemicals have no color, or odor....GO...take your kids/family/pets and GO...go as far away as you can drive tonight....then pull out your charge card and check into a hotel/motel....

[melnjones]

17. No, it's really not necessary anymore...

I'm pretty sure this poster lives a good distance away and the smoke is blowing in a different direction.

[diamond14]

22. too naive....your local fire dept. does NOT have adequate testing

equipment...the police already said they have no idea what chemicals are in the building....many toxic chemicals are released with NO SMOKE or no visual indication...depending on the characteristics of the chemicals, they can roll, fall to the ground, stay in the air, float around, accumulate in low-lying areas....


you have NO IDEA what chemicals are near you, where the chemicals are, how much chemicals are there, and how toxic these chemicals are....

as a Chemist, I warn you to GO and GO NOW...leave in your car with your family and pets, and drive as far away as you can....it'll take several days for response people to figure out what's going on chemically, and wouldn't it be awful if your lungs were destroyed by then.....GO...check into a nice hotel/motel and enjoy yourselves for a few days....somebody will pay all your expenses....


the crazy part about these types of industrial fires is that PEOPLE STAY IN THEIR HOMES....GO SOMEWHERE ELSE (40 - 50 miles), until the air clears....probably the best thing could happen is a great big rainstorm...that will beat it all OUT OF THE AIR (pollute the water, but at least the air will be clear, and you can return home)....

GO....don't be a small town fool.... chemically injured lungs never heal...and you NEED your lungs...

[Voltaire99]

24. Post of the week.

What a great and selfless post -- you, my good Diamond, are a gem. :-)

[melnjones]

16. Hey neighbor!

Good to see that Anderson has a few DUers:-) And yup, the pic is what I saw. I was most concerned that the area around Columbus is highly populated with Hispanics. That's why I went to the shelter (I'm fluent in Spanish) but none showed up. I hope they're ok.

[melnjones]

14. I live here in Anderson...

It looked awful, but now that some time has passed it seems to be not as bad as we all initially thought. I spent a few hours at a shelter as a volunteer. Not too many people used the shelters. Looks like things are going to be ok but it was kinda scary. We're still in flood stage from all the rain and are still recovering from one heck of an ice storm last week that caused quite a bit of property damage and severe power outages. I'd be ok if we're done with the drama now:-)

[blackcat77]

19. Hey, fellow Andersonian...

My wife and I were joking earlier that we've had water, ice and now fire. All that's left is the wind... :)

How long was YOUR power out? We were lucky -- it was just out for 36 hours...

[melnjones]

20. Our lights flickered once, hee hee:-)

I live near the university and we never lost power, so we were very lucky. I work in one of the schools, so the school cancelations and delays have been a little nuts, but oh well. I'm actually buying a house on the west side, so we may end up really being neighbors:-) Oh, and let's hope the wind stays away until AFTER the smoke has cleared. More evacuations would not be fun.

[blackcat77]

31. self-deleted replied to the wrong msg

deleted

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JitterbugPerfume]

28. uhhhhh

my grandson lives there in "jesusland" and he does not deserve lung damage

thank god he is in Mchigan with his dad this week en

[melnjones]

29. You know,

that is offensive as hell. This is my home you are talking about, you don't know a damn thing about my city or what it's been through in the last couple decades, the poverty and crime that it deals with. To imply that my city deserves any of this, even jokingly, is one of the most awful things I've seen on DU yet. Thanks for proving that you're no better than the very people you speak against.

[blackcat77]

32. I'm glad I didn't see that note...

This whole red/blue mentality is very destructive and this is a perfect example.

Yes, Indiana is a very red state, but that doesn't mean that EVERYBODY who lives here is a frothing-at-the-mouth Bushite or a bible-thumping fundamentalist.

We've got to get over this hate -- it's almost as bad as Bush's with-us-or-against-us attitude on the international level. People in Anderson would love a viable solution to our problems and that's true in cities and towns like our's from coast to coast. Don't just write us off as red state cretins or "small town fools" as someone said in an earlier note.

[melnjones]

34. Not only that,

but that is something I wouldn't say even against those in Anderson who ARE Bible-thumping conservatives. They are still people. It's ridiculous that anyone would make a comment like that.

[Chicago Democrat]

33. Magnesium burns hotter than... anything?

7000 Pounds of it... WOW....

[melnjones]

36. I think that's just where the fire started too, not the whole plant.

Pretty sure that much of the plant is gone now.

[Chicago Democrat]

38. Magnesium (7000lbs) on fire would definately cause whatever buildings

that house it (or even near it) to be completely destroyed.


I recall in chemistry class burning that stuff. A thin strip makes a light that is as bright as the sun. The heat is far, far greater than normal fire.

[diamond14]

39. Old buildings often contain ASBESTOS, Polychlorinated Biphenyls,

and all buildings contain PLASTICS (phones, desks, carpets, paints, etc.) which generate a LOT of DIOXINS, vinyl chlorides, and more, radioactive materials from alloys and Americium-241 from fire detectors, and other very toxic chemicals....many chemicals cannot be SEEN or SMELLED or detected by any kind of field instruments, but that doesn't mean that YOU are safe...toxic chemicals move around, unseen and undetected, collecting in low-lying areas, floating around town, swirling above you and trapped in temperature inversions.....


From the 911 fires at the pentagon and the world trade center, people living/working nearby ended up with horrible, long-term lung damage...they have NEVER recovered.....and their 'quality of life' is horribly diminished....

it's just not good for your health to continue to try and LIVE near a burning industrial building of any kind, but especially a metal-alloy fabricating factory...your LUNGS will never recover, and you may not KNOW the toxic effects until months or years later....some people will leave right away because they feel ACUTE toxic effects (immediate coughing and inability to breathe), while many stay because the CHRONIC (long-term) effects do not seem important..CHRONIC effects take months or years to show up...but you'll eventually be real sorry...real sorry...chemically damaged lungs NEVER heal....

anybody who values their health, their families, their pets, AND their lungs will GO away from that fire..go 50 miles away to a beautiful hotel/motel, because the "Principal Responsible Corporation" WILL pay for all your expenses during this mess ....it is foolish to stay and very very DANGEROUS to your health....it may take you MONTHS or YEARS to figure that out, as you try to BREATHE with damaged lungs and/or DIE from the toxic effects....

[Catchawave]

37. Is it me, or has there been alot of fires and accidents involving

toxic chemicals lately ? :tinfoilhat: