Saturday, 2/26/2000 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Plant fire closes schools, puts residents on alert

By Associated Press

ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. -- Firefighters battled a blaze at the North American Corp. factory yesterday, working to keep flames away from a fire wall that protected chlorine stored at the plant.

City schools were closed and the 13,000 residents of this Carter County town were advised to stay indoors, though dozens watched from nearby parking lots, as thick smoke poured from the plant.

No injuries were reported, and no evacuations were ordered.

Authorities said the fire was confined last night 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.

Jerry Fleenor, director of the Sullivan County Emergency Management Agency, said firefighters' efforts were hampered by deplet ed local water supplies because of a drought.

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency rounded up seven tankers from Hamblen and Hawkins counties yesterday afternoon to draw river water to fill portable tanks.

Otherwise, officials said, Elizabethton's drinking water supplies would have run out 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 that is not a danger with the type of chlorine stored at the plant.

"Arch Chemical, out of Charleston, Tennessee, 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 known.

About six workers on the night shift tried to put out the blaze with fire extinguishers, but they escaped when the fire spread too quickly, Green said.

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 been moved, spokesman Ed Herbert said.

"Some doctors are looking to see if they can discharge patients early. We're postponing elective surgery and moving surgeries to other hospitals," he said.

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 work force from about 1,300 to about 100 people, Green said.

The company allowed Dow Chemical to store chlorine at the plant for use in swimming pools. The chemical is toxic and may be fatal if inhaled or absorbed through the skin.

The brick building is in the heart of Elizabethton.

Authorities closed a portion of U.S. 321, the main roadway through town, while firefighters fought the blaze.

http://www.tennessean.com/sii/00/02/26/plantfire26.shtml