Massive fire at Waxahachie chemical plant prompts school evacuations
A massive fire was burning into the afternoon at a chemical plant near U.S. 287 and Interstate 35E in Waxahachie, creating billowing black smoke that could be seen as far away as south Fort Worth and causing a nearby elementary school to be evacuated.
Heavy black wind-blown smoke filled the air above the Magnablend plant, and fire officials warned of possibly toxic fumes and smoke. Emergency officials donned protective suits, and authorities urged those in the city of some 30,000 people to stay inside with the windows closed.
Witnesses and news crews reported hearing repeated explosions from the plant, which is about 50 miles southeast of downtown Fort Worth.
Students at nearby Wedgeworth Elementary School were being evacuated to the Ninth Grade Academy, said Nicole Mansell, a spokeswoman for the Waxahachie school district.
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Massive fire at Waxahachie chemical plant prompts school evacuations
A picture from earlier today, this was a HUGE fire.
Below is a shot of a fire truck from the Ennis Fire Department that got caught up in a river of fire as flammable liquid ignited and ran in a huge stream under the truck. None of the Fire Fighters were hurt but they had to abandon their truck and flee the area.
Fire Departments from all over the area responded to help Waxahachie, with units coming from as far as Dallas, that is the longest response I know of at this time. That’s how we do things in Texas, we band together for the good of the community in need!
Students at nearby Wedgeworth Elementary School were being evacuated to the Ninth Grade Academy, said Nicole Mansell, a spokeswoman for the Waxahachie school district.
The students will be housed at the Ninth Grade Academy Gymnasium and served lunch, Mansell said. She stressed that students were safe. Parents could pick up their children at the gymnasium. Waxahachie police Lt. Joe Wiser said additional firefighters and equipment had been called from surrounding towns.
No injuries have been reported since the first call at 10:40 a.m., Wiser said.
“Traffic has been shut down on 287 and Solon Road,” Wiser said. “We’re asking the public to stay away. There’s a lot of black smoke there. Any added traffic in there would pose a greater problem. This is a chemical plant, and we have concerns about that as well.”
The Ellis County campus of Navarro College is also being evacuated, according to news reports.
Magnablend bills itself as “a custom chemical blending, manufacturing and packaging company.” The company operates plants in Waxahachie; Alice, TX; Pennsylvania; North Dakota and Wyoming, according to its website, which was suffering periodic outages as the story unfolded.
To the best of my knowledge, no one was hurt in this conflagration, that is still the story the LIVE reports are going with at this time, reports are still coming in and I’m pretty sure there will be better updates later today or tomorrow.
I’ll keep all these folk in my prayers. Keep us updated Fred.
I watched this in the drivers lounge at the truck stop, and… This is one big blaze. Certainly as big as any chemical fire that I ever responded too. A few things that I noticed were; the nature of discharge, the type of smoke, and rail tank cars in close proximity to the blaze inviting additional bleve type explosions. One dangerous scene to be sure!
I drove through there three times last week! I pray that all my Brother and Sister’s on the line are safe, and that the people of that city overcome this tragedy and recover bigger and better then ever.
One of my crazy friends here in Rowlett, that just happens to be a Fire Fighter, posted the video of the Engine going up in flames and captioned it with this:
Dear Chief, Many things have changed since we last spoke.
Chemical fires are the worst.
Chemical reactions PRIOR TO the fire are downright scary. Prayers for all involved, and hopes that the “no casualties” stays the same throughout.