Representative image Witnesses told local media that several explosions were heard during the incident at the Manor Chemical plant.
St. Louis-area emergency personnel were dispatched to the Manor Chemical Company Inc. plant in Affton, MO Thursday afternoon after a fire and several explosions were reported at the facility, according to local news organizations.
“We are currently evacuating everyone within ½ mile radius of the fire,” the St. Louis County Police Department tweeted at 1:53 p.m.
Area residents told Fox 2 News that they heard several explosions at the facility. CBS affiliate KMOV said the blaze started at about 2:30 p.m.
No injuries have been logged so far.
Anaven, a joint venture between specialty chemicals firm Nouryon and agricultural chemicals maker Atul, recently commenced production of monochloroacetic acid (MCA) at their newly opened facility in Gujrat, India, a release announced this week. Featuring an initial capacity of 32,000 tn/yr, the new asset is the largest MCA production site in the country.
“Through this partnership with Atul, we can leverage Nouryon’s global leadership in MCA in order to meet the fast-growing demand from customers across multiple markets in India, while also continuing to drive innovation and sustainability in the region,” Rob Vancko, vice president of construction at Nouryon and chairman of Anaven, said in a statement.
A four-alarm chemical fire that sent mushroom clouds of smoke over Affton and forced evacuations of residents Thursday afternoon was something Affton fire officials had long dreaded, but the blaze was fully contained within hours and residents could return to their houses by Thursday evening.
Although the wooden structure of at least one building of the Manor Chemical Company plant at 6901 Heege Road completely burned to the ground, the only injury from the heavy fire was to a firefighter who was overcome by heat or stress and was taken by ambulance to a hospital.
Affton Fire Protection District Chief Nick Fahs talked to reporters about the fire, which started around 2:30 p.m., at the AFPD’s new firehouse on Valcour about 8:30 p.m. By that time, the injured firefighter was “OK,” all residents were back in their homes, all streets were opened, and the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District cleared the sewer lines. An active investigation was still going on at the mangled Manor