NC Firefighters Consult Authorities, Contain Fire at Asphalt Plant

Susie C. Spear

News & Record, Greensboro, N.C.

(TNS)

Mar. 9—MADISON — A day after a tank containing 11,500 gallons of liquid asphalt caught fire, residents living mere yards away from the Seal Master contracting company are asking why the company and local firefighters didn't know exactly how to fight the blaze.

Fearing a possible explosion as contents of the tank hissed and the temperature of the fire increased, Madison Fire Department Chief Jim Ritchey said during a Tuesday news conference that his agency and Seal Master staff turned to the Canadian manufacturers of the asphalt for help.

The fire, which was first noticed around 6 a.m. on Tuesday and produced intermittent smoke and flame, was almost completely contained within one of three similar tanks. To some, it did not appear to be burning.

The fire started when insulation on the exterior of the tank ignited, a company official said Wednesday.

"We're still not quite sure what caused the insulation to catch fire, but it's over. It's done," said Lee Lowis, Seal Master's chief operating officer, in a telephone interview.

With a capacity of 17,000 gallons, the burning tank sat just three feet from a second tank holding 6,000 more gallons of liquid asphalt, fire officials said.

"It concerned us that nobody knew how to put it out, and it seemed like there was no protocol in place," said James King, 62, a Baptist minister who lives across the street from the plant that is located at 703 W. Decatur St. "If you've got to call Canada and ask how to put out the fire, it's too late."

Even before the fire, King and his wife Myra were troubled by persistent asphalt fumes from the plant that stores liquid asphalt for paving and road sealant.

Petroleum-based asphalt produces fumes that are known to cause headache, skin rash, fatigue, reduced appetite and skin cancer, according to the federal government's Occupational Safety and Health Administration website.

State environmental officials said Tuesday they were not part of the emergency response at and around the plant.

"This facility does not hold any active permits from any of (the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality's) regulatory divisions," agency spokesman Shawn Taylor said. "When conditions are safe, DEQ staff will investigate to make sure the facility was in compliance with all environmental regulations."

Air quality is one of the areas under DEQ's purview, and neighbors of the facility say it has been a source of irritation for years.

"Some days it smells horrible. You know how it smells when a road is being paved? It's 10 times worse than that some days. It'll blow your boots off," said Myra King, 57, who has operated Little Gems Day Care from the couple's home for the past decade. She noted that the fire cost her a day's business and left working parents without a sitter. "I feel (Seal Master) should have standards they must adhere to. I have to give safety plans to the state for my business. Don't they?"

Clean air is important to the Kings, they said, talking on their porch as a parent arrived to collect a toddler. The Kings' grandchildren play at their home and wait for the school bus across from the plant on weekday mornings, they said.

Next door, Felicia Moore and her daughter, Courtney, said they are afraid that firefighters and Seal Master weren't prepared for the emergency.

Paralyzed from the waist down, Felicia, a 52-year-old former nursing assistant, was evacuated from her home early Tuesday morning by EMS workers who took her to a nearby parking lot.

"I don't think they've ever really mapped out a plan," the elder Moore said of Seal Master and the local fire department. "I don't think they were prepared for a situation like this. And I think the company could be more open to us as a community."

Cleanup at the site involved removing "maybe two 5-gallon pails of material," said Lowis, adding that the company hopes to present its findings to fire officials by early next week.

"We have another tank with the same material in it so it's not going to shut us down, thank goodness," he said. "We're very fortunate no one was hurt and I'm extremely grateful that the fire department responded as quickly as they did."

Staff writer John Deem contributed to this report.

Contact Susie C. Spear at [email protected] or (336) 349-4331, ext. 6140.

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