The Department of Public Safety is reporting a natural gas explosion near Appleby in Nacogdoches County. That natural gas well is spewing a mixture of salt water, mud and natural gas. Local residents within a one half mile radius of the explosion have been evacuated. Traffic is being re-routed to Highway 259 north and south of Appleby.
DPS received reports of the explosion about 2:32 this morning. No injuries have been reported. Crews have been called in to try to cap the well. Link to Article"
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Fire Prompts Voluntary Evacuation at N.C. Plant (North Carolina - June 9th)
The Associated Press SAWMILLS, N.C. -- Officials ordered a voluntary evacuation Thursday after a fire and explosion shook the warehouse of a Caldwell County hazardous materials cleanup plant.
The blast occurred at Stat Inc., said Sawmills Town Manager Bob Frye, and residents and businesses around the facility for a third of a mile were asked to evacuate.
A shelter was set up at Hudson Middle School. "This morning, a fire broke out in one of their storage facilities and there was an explosion," Frye said, adding the area wasn't densely populated but he didn't know how many people were affected. Frye said two first-responder units were in standby. There were reports of injuries, according to WSOC television, but details were sketchy. Chemicals at the plant include toluene and acetone, the television station said. Link to Article
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Part of Sun Lakes Evacuated Because of Smoke (Phoenix, AZ - June 10th)
Associated Press Jun. 10, 2004 12:00 AM An evacuation is under way this afternoon in the Sun Lakes area southeast of Phoenix after a fire started at a wastewater treatment plant.
A spokesman for the Sun Lakes Fire Department said 100 to 200 residents in a square mile area near Price and Riggs roads were evacuated to the Sun Lakes Country Club.
The fire started in the plant's odor scrubbers. Black smoke could be seen coming out of the scrubbers, according to the Associated Press. Firefighters say the fire is under control and no one was injured. Link to Article
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Three Held in Connection with Suspicious Fires (Georgia)
CUMMING, GA (AP) -- Officials have three people in custody in connection with a string of fires that have broken out in three counties since late April.
A Forsyth County fire investigator spotted two of the suspects near the location of a fire early today at a vacant building at the Chattahoochee River Club subdivision.
Sheriff's Department Major Gene Moss tells The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the two unidentified suspects are in their 20s and are charged with arson and burglary in connection with an earlier fire (off McGinnis Ferry Road). He says they also are suspected in this morning's fire.
He says the arrest warrants were taken out based on a tip investigators got yesterday afternoon. State Insurance and Fire Commissioner John Oxendine says a third suspect in the string of fires was taken into custody about 4:30 a-m today in Hall County. He says the three know each other. Moss says the two men taken into custody in Forsyth County led deputies on a short, low-speed chase before stopping their pickup truck early today.
Oxendine is in Alpharetta meeting with a task force investigating about 30 suspicious fires in Forsyth, Fulton and Gwinnett counties since the last week in April. The task force is made up of 15 metro Atlanta agencies. Oxendine has announced a ten-thousand-dollar reward for information in the case. Link to Article
And so it begins. It sounds like they got the message.