Conyers BioLab fire in Georgia: Video shows status of cleanup, officials share update
Georgia officials are dealing with the aftermath of a chemical fire at a swimming pool cleaning facility near Atlanta.
The fire, that ignited on Sunday around 5 a.m., started on the roof of a BioLab facility in Conyers, Georgia. The fire was reignited when water from a malfunctioning sprinkler head "came in contact with a water reactive chemical and produced a plume," county officials explained on their website.
The blaze had been extinguished earlier in the day, officials said.
Conyers is about 26 miles east of Atlanta, Georgia.
The Rockdale Fire Department at Biolab says the department has worked to extinguish the flames with water and continues to monitor any hot spots that may arise as they move the debris.
Conyers fire:Shelter-in-place still in effect after chemical fire at pool cleaning plant
Watch as clean-up begins at the BioLab
The front, right and left sides of the building have collapsed, the video shows. Once the debris is removed, officials will work to bring down the remaining back wall.
The fire was extinguished around 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, officials said.
Rockdale County chemical plume update
On Tuesday, Rockdale County officials held a press conference with updates about the status of the BioLab and the circulating plume.
“This incident is just not isolated to Rockdale County,” Oz Nesbitt, chairman and CEO of Rockdale County said during the press conference. “We understand from our local community partners throughout the region, other municipalities and other counties are being impacted by the plume that's in the air moving throughout Metropolitan Atlanta.”
Nesbitt said that he along with the Rockdale County Fire Chief Marian McDaniel and executives of BioLab are currently meeting to stay on top of the situation. While on the sight around 1:00 a.m., McDaniel said that the debris from the building had been cleared. However, the super sacks that contained the product had disintegrated.
“So as opposed to us being able to just remove the pallets, now, we had to revise our plan,” she said. “The new plan now is to bring in rolling containers to offload some of the product a little at a time. It's a little slower process, but much safer for the environment.”
In addition, Rick Jardine, a federal on scene coordinator at the Environmental Protection Agency, said that the government agency will continue to monitor the incident until “safe conditions prevail.”
Lawsuit filed
A class-action lawsuit was filed by attorneys on behalf of 90,000 Rocklands on Sept. 30. The lawsuit states that residents are suing both BioLab and KIK Consumer Products Inc for property-related damaged from the Sept. 29 fire, according to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
KIK Consumer Products Inc is a North American consumer product manufacturer.
In addition to the property-related damages, the suit says that the class members have suffered "loss of use and enjoyment, remediation and clean-up costs, lost profits, and diminution of property value" as a result of the fire.
“Citizens trust that, when companies are handling potentially toxic and dangerous chemicals, they take the utmost care to ensure that people don’t get hurt,” former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, who serves as plaintiffs’ counsel, said in a statement. “The people of Conyers trusted the defendants to keep them safe, and the defendants abused that trust. This never should have happened.”
USA TODAY reached out to BioLab and KIK Consumer Products Inc for comment.
This story was updated to include new information.
Contributing: James Powel, USA TODAY.
Ahjané Forbes is a reporter on the National Trending Team at USA TODAY. Ahjané covers breaking news, car recalls, crime, health, lottery and public policy stories. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on Instagram, Threads and X (Twitter) @forbesfineest.