Residents were evacuated and traffic halted along Interstate 10 at approximately 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon as a major chemical fire at Flo-Chem Technologies was battled along the service road at the Duson/Mire exit (exit 92). Area fire departments, Acadia Parish Sheriff Department, Rayne Police, State Troopers, Hazmat and additional departments were on the scene of the massive fire and associated explosions. (Acadian-Tribune Photo by Lisa Soileaux)
Chemical plant explodes, burns Thursday in Duson
DUSON - Explosions and a massive fireball at a chemical plant led to the closure of a long swath of Interstate 10 and the evacuation of businesses and residences here Thursday.
The fire happened around 4 p.m. Thursday at Flow-Chem Technologies, “a specialty oilfield chemical provider that operates across (the) Gulf of Mexico and U.S. onshore market.”
The plant is located on Cutlass Loop just off the Duson/Mire exit (exit 92), at the Acadia and Lafayette parish line.
Witnesses said they heard several explosions prior to the fire at the plant.
There were people inside the plant at the time of the multiple explosions, but they all were able to get out. Acadia Parish Sheriff K.P. Gibson said no injuries were reported.
At one point, the evacuation zone stretched up to five miles around the facility. By 7 p.m., the zone had been shortened to one-mile north of the Cuttlass Loop plant with a shelter-in-place zone three miles past that, according to Master Trooper Brooks David, a Troop I spokesman. Evacuees were told to report to the Mire Fire Station.
All lanes of I-10 from I-49 in Lafayette to exit 80 in Crowley were closed until just after 3:30 a.m. Friday.
James Simon, Director of the Acadia Parish of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said the fire started after xylene, which is used as a solvent, and flammable containers exploded. Crews were brought in to vacuum up the xylene and the other hazardous chemicals at the site.
By 8 p.m., Simon said officials were trying to get evacuees back into their homes, once the state Department of Environmental Quality, which had been monitoring the air, gave the OK.
According to the Flow-Chem website, the manufacturing facility can custom blend products or furnish production, processing, and specialty chemicals manufactured to proprietary formulas for oil and gas operators, plants and refineries, or the export market.
Flow-Chem has blending facilities in Rayne (Duson) and Pleasonton, Texas, and multiple warehouses.
Mumbai, India-based Dorf Ketal Chemicals India Private Ltd. purchased the company in 2016.
The Acadia Sheriff’s Office, Duson, Mire, Rayne and Crowley fire departments and other fire departments from across Acadia and Lafayette parishes, State Police Hazmat and troopers, Lafayette Fire Hazmat and the State Fire Marshal’s Office responded to the scene.