[templar]

It is not outside my realm of thinking that a 1 mile radius evacuation could be blamed on the smoke and omit certain contents of that smoke to avoid a mass panic.

The omitting of certain contents I can see. But if radiological contamination were involved I would think that the evac area would be larger than a mile. A mile would seem to be oriented toward the dilution of the smoke (and its chemicals) to less than dangerous levels. I'm just speculating, but I think it would be considerably larger if there were enough radiation involved to merit evac.

[Milwaukee_Guy]

Two questions...

Did they start a "Shelter in Place" order for the local residents and -then- escalate to an evacuation?

How in the heck does the media know that 70-100 workers have not "checked in" with their families?

FWIW - I always thought the "Shelter in Place" plan was a feeble substitue for actually getting people evacuated in a planned and orderly manner. We live near (1 1/2 miles)from a large gasoline tank farm so I have pondered what our reaction would be to a mishap.

[Catspaw]

Templar, I think you have me confused with someone else. I leave the fire & firefighting to the firefighters. Someone who has hazmat training would be able to tell you how wide a perimeter they set up. I do know a relatively large area in a business park was evacuated when a plane crashed into a dairy cold storage building in our area. It wasn't just for the explosion and fire--it was for the noxious fumes.