Lucas Daprile
cleveland.com
(TNS)
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Firefighters continued working Friday to extinguish a chemical fire at an Akron business, a day after several explosions forced evacuations within a half-mile radius of the company.
The fire was reported shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday at SMB Products on Rosemary Boulevard, prompting hazardous material teams to respond. Residents were allowed to return to their homes at 8:30 p.m. after air quality testing showed the air pollution was at normal levels, Akron Mayor Shammas Malik said at a Friday news conference.
As of Friday, the fire was still burning, and officials are in the process of removing rubble from the collapsed building, Akron Fire Chief Leon Henderson told reporters. Roughly 12 firefighters remained on the scene, he said.
“It could be anywhere from another 8 hours to another 12 hours,” Henderson said.
One firefighter was hurt Thursday, and the officer remained in a local hospital recovering. No employees of SMB Products were injured.
The fire led to several, small explosions throughout the day, one of which happened when the roof caved in, Henderson said.
The chemicals involved in the fire included methanol, xylene, propane, ether and ethanol. But it is unclear what started the fire, Henderson said. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency took air quality samples at the business, Henderson said.
The pollution levels remained within safe levels, but “any time there is smoke in the air, there is an impact to air quality,” Henderson said.
People who have asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or other pre-existing medical conditions should avoid the area and call 911 if they are struggling to breathe, Henderson said.
Previous news reports incorrectly said the fire started at Koki Laboratories, Malik said at the press conference. Koki Laboratories previously occupied the building where the explosion happened, but the building is now occupied by SMB Products, Malik said.
During the five or so hours when people were evacuated from the area, Akron officials opened two community centers, which housed roughly 170 people and provided them with food and water, said Eufrancia Lash, the deputy director of public safety.
Officials declined to specify the injuries the firefighter suffered. But when asked about the cause of the injury, Henderson noted firefighters were on scene for a long time, carrying 70 pounds of equipment as temperatures reached the 80s.
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