Officials scaled back a massive mandatory evacuation in Bryan to just 500 homes Thursday evening, allowing most residents to return after a chemical fire at a plant forced them out hours earlier.
At least 35 people were treated and released at area hospitals for respiratory problems after the blaze at El Dorado Chemical Co. on Texas 21 shot a plume of brown-orange smoke that hung high over the area through much of the day. A thin, low-lying cloud could be seen late Thursday.
No life-threatening injuries were reported; however, one patient was kept overnight, officials said.
Dispatchers said that the chemical that caught fire -- possibly as an employee performed welding work -- was ammonium nitrate, which the company produces to be sold as a fertilizer.
Bryan Fire Chief Mike Donoho said a small crew of about eight officials from the Bryan and College Station fire departments, along with a hazardous materials team, would remain at the command center at Smetana Exxon on Texas 21 overnight to monitor the blaze.
Around daybreak, Donoho said workers from Eagle SWS -- a company hired by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to spearhead the clean-up -- would move closer to the site to investigate, along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Fire officials would be offering assistance, he said, ready with water and foam to put out what remains of the blaze.
Throughout the day, crews let the chemical burn off rather than fight the dangerous fire up-close. The chemical is an irritant to the respiratory system, skin and eyes.
The warehouse, which is on Texas 21 between Texas 47 and F.M. 2818, was destroyed by the fire. It was unclear how large the complex was; the property was appraised at $956,180.
John Carvar, a vice president with the Arkansas-based manufacturer of agriculture products and industrial chemicals, said it wasn't clear how much of the chemical was in the warehouse but said the fire and heavy trail of smoke seen for miles didn't pose a health risk.
John Carvar, a vice president with the Arkansas-based manufacturer of agriculture products and industrial chemicals, said it wasn't clear how much of the chemical was in the warehouse but said the fire and heavy trail of smoke seen for miles didn't pose a health risk.
Local officials said they weren't taking any chances.
Local authorities took unprecedented action and ordered 72,000-plus Bryan and rural Brazos County residents to flee the potential danger area -- which had a radius of about 8 miles. It was a mandatory evacuation but not was not enforced. However, patrol cars did bar motorists from getting closer to the scene.
Those living near the epicenter of the incident were told it was not known when they'd be able to return to their homes. Efforts were under way to move up to 20 people from a shelter on the Texas A&M campus to hotels.
Officials with several agencies -- including the Environmental Protection Agency, which used a plane to test the air quality -- helped local officials determine how big of a threat the lingering cloud of smoke was to the community.
"I'm sorry if it's an inconvenience to people, but we're erring on the side of caution," Donoho said after the initial order, describing it as precautionary. "This is a dangerous chemical, and we don't want to wait and see if it's going to be bad. We need to take action now."
The evacuations started soon after the noon fire, initially with emergency workers asking people living and working within a quarter-mile to leave. But within hours, the evacuation zone reached a four-mile radius and finally grew to all of Bryan and parts of the county.
It was clear from the thick cloud that nestled over the west part of Bryan that people soon would be making their way to hospitals, which already were on alert. People started trickling in by mid-afternoon, most complaining of respiratory problems from inhaling the chemicals: 22 people were admitted to St. Joseph Regional Health Center in Bryan, 12 at The College Station Medical Center and two at St. Joseph in Navasota.
Throughout the day, authorities urged anyone who could "smell it or see it" -- referring to the smoke -- to leave the area immediately.
Government officials activated the Brazos County Emergency Operations Center in downtown Bryan and worked with officials at the command post off Texas 21. Authorities said a review of procedures would be ongoing in coming days, but the fact there were no major injuries was a good indication of a successful mission.
That doesn't mean that at times it wasn't confusing for some: "Right now we really don't know," an unidentified worker at the Emergency Operations Center said early on when asked what the public should be doing. "We have a lot of misinformation, and we are trying to get some confirmed information."
Tim Ottinger, spokesman for St. Joseph in Bryan, said the incident prompted officials to get a good look at how procedures are executed.
"Should it have been worse, it made us pay attention to what it would have been like to evacuate the whole hospital," he said, adding that for 2 1/2 hours in the early evening the hospital had to divert ambulance traffic because it was in the evacuation zone. "We certainly learned a few things that we will carry over to the future."
* Eagle staff writers Michelle Casady, Matthew Watkins, Stuart Villanueva and Cassie Smith contributed to this report.
Highlights:
Closings
* Texas A&M University's main campus as well as Blinn College will resume a normal class schedule Friday, but A&M's Riverside campus will be closed until noon as a precautionary measure.
Road closures
* The following roads will remain closed until further notice:
Texas 21 from Harvey Mitchell Parkway to Texas 47
Leonard Road from Harvey Mitchell Parkway to Texas 47
Sandy Point Road from Harvey Mitchell Parkway to Old San Antonio Road
Old San Antonio Road from Sandy Point Road to Texas 21 west
Luza Lane at Texas 21 west
Services
* Bryan officials said that the city's compost facility was evacuated, which may cause some interruption in service for the residential brush and bulky collection today. Routes not collected today will be collected as soon as possible, officials said.
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