Bryan Chemical Fire

July 30, 2009

At approximately 12:06pm (CST) on July 30th, 2009 a large warehouse fire erupted at the El Dorado Chemical Company located on State Highway 21 in Bryan, TX. Chemicals, including fertilizing agents and ammonium nitrate, produced large plumes of thick, black smoke that eventually drifted up to 60 miles from the site of the blaze. Officials determined that it was necessary to let the fire burn out, under the guidance of fire and hazardous materials personnel. Officials closed a 5-mile stretch of State Highway 21 and ordered an evacuation of much of the city of Bryan. The evacuation order eventually involved nearly 80,000 people. The evacuees were directed south, towards College Station, as prevailing winds at the time were pushing the noxious smoke north. A shelter was established at Texas A and M University’s Reed Arena, where up to 1,000 persons sought temporary relief. By 8:50pm (CST) on July 30th, the fire had been declared “under control” by authorities and most previously evacuated residents were allowed back into the area. On the morning of July 31st, crews doused most of the remaining hot spots of the fire, the major roads in the area were reopened and the remaining evacuation orders were lifted. Although dozens of people throughout the region received medical treatment for respiratory distress caused by the fire’s smoke, no major injuries or fatalities were incurred.

Selected Updates

NC4 Incident Monitoring Center issued the following alerts:

• Firefighters are on scene of a chemical fire; evacuations ordered.  7/30/09 14:15 PDT
  
  
• Up to 80,000 evacuated after chemical fire.   7/30/09 14:21 PDT
  

• Evacuation center established at Reed Arena at Texas A & M University.  7/30/09 15:38 PDT
  

• Chemical fire burned itself out. Residents outside of 2-mile radius may return.
  7/30/09 17:29 PDT
  
  
• Fire crews contained an industrial fire at a chemical plant. Incident closed.
  7/30/09 22:46 PDT
  

 

Additional Resources
NC4 provided real-time updates of the situation to its customers via its ESA notification solution. NC4 analysts produced eight separate alerts over an 8-hour period during the Bryan incident. These alerts contained the latest information about evacuation orders, as well as the latest developments of the firefighting effort, the status of major highways in the area, casualty information, weather conditions affecting the spread of the fire’s smoke and information about the hazards of the chemicals involved in the fire.

One-page printable summary with graphics