Official: Spark may have started Texas plant fire

WAXAHACHIE, Texas (AP) — An official says an electrical spark may have started a large North Texas chemical plant fire that forced school evacuations and kept residents inside because of the risk of harmful gases.

Scott Pendery, CEO of plant owner Magnablend Inc., said at a news conference Tuesday it wasn’t known what might have produced the spark and what chemicals were involved in Monday’s blaze in Waxahachie, 30 miles south of Dallas.

Authorities reported no injuries, but Pendery said two workers were referred for treatment of stress-related symptoms as a precaution. Environmental officials have said they did not find elevated levels of toxic chemicals in the air.

Pendery said Magnablend manufactures custom chemicals for a variety of industries, mostly in oil and gas. Officials said workers were mixing chemicals when the fire started.

Posted by publisher on Oct 5 2011. Filed under Off-the-wire, State news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.