Apex, County Officials Indicate Fire Under Control

10/7/2006

7 a.m. News Conference Scheduled to Announce Re-entry Plans

Fire and HAZMAT officials at the incident command center in Apex are reporting that the chemical fire at Environmental Quality Company will be extinguished in the initial 12 hours previously estimated.

“We are making good headway on the fire,” said Gene Schulze, spokesperson and Apex Town Council member from the incident command center. “Every indication is that the fire will be extinguished early Saturday morning.”

Schulze said that the evacuation order remains in place until Apex Town leaders announce re-entry plans after all fires have been confirmed extinguished. Town officials will announce those plans at a news conference at 7 a.m., Saturday, October 7, provided all fires are extinguished.

Schulze praised HAZMAT and fire personnel, saying they had been working around-the-clock to tackle the stubborn fires remaining under the metal structures of the collapsed EQ building that required heavy excavators to remove.

Environmental Quality stored a variety of chemicals on the site, including oil- and latex-based paints, household cleaners, detergents and pool chemicals. Concerns about toxic smoke and ash forced the evacuation of surrounding residents. The evacuation area impacted approximately 16,000 residents of Apex. Local officials confirmed that nearly 4,000 people left their homes to seek shelter with friends and family members, in local hotels and at local emergency shelters.

Wake County Emergency Operations Center reported that EQ offered shelter residents who were evacuated to Green Hope High School accommodations at a local hotel. Only five guests remained at the evacuation shelter as of midnight Friday.

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