A chemical plant in Neodesha continues to burn after an explosion injured one person Tuesday morning in the southeast Kansas town.
The employee of Airosol Company Inc. was transported to Wichita for treatment and was injured during the fire, according to the Wilson County Emergency Management Office. That injury was the only injury reported as of 10:45 a.m., Cassandra Edson, public information officer of Wilson County Emergency Management said.
Meanwhile residents in the small town were being told not to consume tap water because untreated water was being pumped into the system to fight the fire.
The explosion occurred around 6 a.m. and the fire started shortly after.It’s unclear what caused the explosion and the situation in under investigation, Edson said.
“We don’t expect to know until after the fire is out,” she said.
A smoke plume had formed over the plant and was advancing over parts of the city, Edson said.
By 11:20 a.m. the evacuation zone had expanded to a half-mile area around the plant, including Neodesha High School and several city blocks. The area include blocks from Main Street north to Elm Street-East and 4th Street west to the city limits.
Originally residents west of 9th and north of Osage Streets, were asked to leave, Edson said.
Neodesha United Methodist, First Christian Church and Church of the Nazarene would shelter residents who had nowhere else to go, Edson said. In Fredonia, the high school would also serve as a shelter along with Memorial Hall in Independence.
Winds in the area were from that south at 15 to 17 mph with gusts about 25 mph, according to the National Weather Service. A projection of the plume showed it traveling northwest across Wilson County.
Most roads in and out of Neodesha have been closed.
According to the Kansas Department of Transportation, US-75 highway is closed from US-400 highway west and north to the US-75 and K-47 highway junction north of Neodesha. US-400 is also closed from the US-400/K-47 junction at Fredonia southeast to west of Neodesha.
Smoke is blowing over the highways, which will remain closed until further notice, KDOT said in an alert.