Fire ravages Elizabethton plant
Several agencies pitch in to battle
day-long blaze
February 26, 2000
By Angela K. Brown, Associated Press
ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. -- Firefighters battled a
blaze at the North American Corp. factory Friday,
working to keep flames away from a fire wall that
protects chlorine stored at the plant.
City schools were closed, and the 13,000 residents
of this Carter County town were advised to stay
indoors, although dozens watched from nearby
parking lots as smoke poured from the plant. No
injuries were reported, and no evacuations were
ordered.
Authorities said the fire was confined Friday evening
to an area away from the roughly 5 million pounds
of chlorine stored at the plant, although workers
from the company and nearby businesses were
moving the chlorine to another storage area as a
precaution.
"The fire is much smaller. It was going in all
directions," said Jerry Fleenor, director of the
Sullivan County Emergency Management Agency.
He said officials were hoping to put the fire out
overnight.
Fleenor said firefighters' efforts were hampered by
inadequate local water supplies attributable to low
rainfall. The Tennessee Emergency Management
Agency rounded up seven tankers from Hamblen
and Hawkins counties Friday afternoon to draw river
water to fill portable tanks. Otherwise, he said, the
local water supply would have been exhausted by
evening.
The chlorine, in granular and tablet form, was a
concern, but it created no immediate danger, said
James Burrough, director of the Elizabethton-Carter
County Emergency Management Agency.
Officials initially worried the chlorine would release
poisonous vapors if it got wet. But Fleenor said they
learned Friday afternoon that is not a danger with
the type of chlorine involved.
"Arch Chemical, out of Charleston, Tenn., is the
manufacturer. They say it is not reactive to water,"
Fleenor said.
He said the manufacturer advised emergency
officials that if the fire got near the chlorine, it could
be doused with water to keep it cool.
The blaze started about 4:30 a.m., apparently in
some packaging material, North American Corp.
President Charles Green said. The cause was not
immediately known. "It looks pretty bad in certain
sections of the plant, but I can't really tell" how
much damage there is, Green said.
About six workers on the night shift tried to put out
the blaze with fire extinguishers but fled when the
fire spread too quickly for them to control, Green
said.
The blaze was contained after about four hours, but
smoke, visible in Johnson City some 10 miles
away, continued to fill the sky. The city's five
schools, with an enrollment of about 2,500
students, were closed to prevent traffic accidents
between school buses and fire trucks.
Sycamore Shoals Hospital, within sight of the plant,
prepared for evacuation, but none of the 47 patients
had to be moved, spokesman Ed Herbert said.
"Some doctors are looking to see if they can
discharge some patients early," he said. "We're
postponing elective surgery and moving other
surgeries to other hospitals."
North American Corp. contracts with General
Motors and Ford Motor Co. to make fibers for car
hoses, Green said. The 1.3 million-square-foot plant
once manufactured rayon for NASA and rayon and
latex-treated yarns. Layoffs and production changes
in 1997 reduced the workforce from about 1,300 to
about 100 people, Green said.
The company allowed Dow Chemical to use the
plant for storing chlorine intended for swimming-pool
use. The chemical is toxic and can be fatal if
inhaled or absorbed through the skin.
The brick building is located in the heart of
Elizabethton. Authorities closed a portion of U.S.
Highway 321, the main roadway through town, while
firefighters battled the blaze. As a precaution, the
Tennessee Valley Authority reduced the water flow
from Watauga and Wilbur dams, and emergency
officials placed booms on to the Watauga River to
absorb any chemicals that might escape.
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