Anderson, January 15 - A magnesium fire at a recycling plant may take days to burns itself out after firefighters gave up on trying to extinguish the blaze themselves.
The fire at the Advanced Magnesium Alloys Corp. plant, or AMACOR, spewed wind-driven toxic fumes and forced authorities to evacuate several thousand people from their homes Friday night.
Magnesium is a silvery-white, highly flammable metal that, when ignited, releases irritating or toxic fumes. Magnesium fires are typically extinguished using dry sand; throwing water on such a fire can cause it to flare up or explode.
"God doesn't have enough sand in Anderson," Anderson Fire Chief J.R. Rosencrans said after deciding to let the fire burn itself out.
The fire began on a skid holding 6,000 pounds of magnesium, investigators said.
The Herald Bulletin of Anderson, citing the radio traffic of emergency agencies, reported on its Web site that the plant held 300,000 pounds of magnesium.
There were no reports of injuries.
Northerly winds of about 5 mph drove the smoke and fumes directly south into a largely residential neighborhood, leading authorities to evacuate an estimated 5,000 people from an are of
the city's south side measuring about 1 mile wide by 2 miles long, Sollars said.
"They're afraid the plant is gonna blow," said Doug Parks, who with a roommate lives across the street and upwind from the plant. "We heard a couple of explosions that shook the house."
The Salvation Army and Red Cross set up shelters to house evacuees.
Several hundred firefighters from Anderson and neighboring fire departments rushed to the scene after the fire began before 5 p.m.
Twelve to 18 of the plant's approximately 70 workers were inside at the time, said Anderson police spokesman Detective Terry Sollars.
Around 8 p.m., an explosion caved in the roof of the building and firefighters evacuated from inside the burning structure.
"The whole building is engulfed now," Sollars said from a command post a few blocks from the fire. "It's a bright glow, it's burning pretty hard."
About an hour later, the decision was made to let it burn itself out.
Anderson Mayor Kevin Smith said emergency management officials were testing air quality with hand monitors and with ground monitors at the direction of the state fire marshal.
The factory, which AMACOR purchased in 2003, is located in the sprawling former Delco Remy plant site north of Interstate 69.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
