Apex, NC – Half of the 32,000 residents of Apex, North Carolina, have been asked to evacuate after explosions and fire at a hazardous waste plant released noxious gases and flames 150 feet high over the town.
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People “are putting themselves in very grave danger by being near or around this smoke. If you see smoke, get away from it.” said Bruce Radford, manager of the Raleigh suburban town. “There are pesticides, oxides, chlorine gases, there are all grades of contaminated material in this fire and in this smoke,” he said.
No deaths have been reported from the fire at the plant, called Environmental Quality Industrial Services, but more than 100 people have been hospitalized.
Officials said they didn’t know what sparked the blaze, Mayor Keith Weatherly was quoted as saying flames jumped the plant site and appeared to have caused petroleum tanks, belonging to another company, to explode.