TOLEDO, Ohio — A chemical tank explosion in Toledo, Ohio, forced hundreds of residents to evacuate their homes or shelter in place Wednesday due to fears of a toxic release and the possibility of another explosion.
Video showed a plume billowing from the tank Wednesday morning, hours after the leak first erupted Tuesday night.
Some residents felt irritation in their eyes and throats, and one sheriff's deputy who responded to the blast drove himself to a hospital because he felt unwell, city officials said.
MC Tank Transport said the tank contained glycidyl methacrylate, which it described as “an industrial chemical used to make certain plastics, paints and coatings perform better.”
The leaking tank was in a largely industrial area. Nearly 1,000 residents were told to evacuate overnight within a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) radius of the explosion, Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said at a news conference Wednesday morning.
A shelter-in-place zone order covering a 3-mile (4.8-kilometer) radius included neighborhoods along the Lake Erie shoreline and stretched just across the state line into Michigan.
Health officials said the chemical was mostly an irritant so far, causing watery eyes, and that tests were ongoing to determine how much toxicity was in the air.
Kristine Kowalinski, who lives just outside the impacted area, said she was staying inside because she’s sensitive to even wood burning outside. She said she’s worried about what’s in the air and on the ground.
“My main concern is how did that affect everything overnight when it was raining down on cars, houses, my garden,” she said.
Kapszukiewicz said the chemical is liquid inside the tank but becomes a gas when released.
“There is still concern that the tank is emitting this chemical and it has the potential within 12 hours of the incident to be explosive,” the mayor said, adding that it can hold 5,500 gallons of the chemical in liquid form. He said officials don’t know what caused the explosion.
People who come into contact with glycidyl methacrylate may feel as if their eyes, nose, mouth and skin are burning, the city fire department said. Overexposure can lead to headache, dizziness, tiredness, nausea and vomiting.
“It’s really toxic if you touch it, if you ingest it,” said Karim Baroudi, director of the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department. “Now we’re trying to kind of determine how much of a toxicity is in the air that the people are breathing so we can give better guidance.”
Baroudi advised residents to close their windows and that those who “feel irritation in the eyes, heavily breathing, just take a shower for now.” The fire department said those who experience symptoms should contact a medical professional.
First responders, hazmat and safety teams are not approaching the tank because of the risk of more explosions, and will reassess conditions later Wednesday morning, Kapszukiewicz said.
Arkansas-based MC Tank Transport said in a statement the company is working with the fire department and other emergency authorities. Company representatives were on their way to Toledo, Kapszukiewicz said.
“Our immediate and overriding concern is the safety of area residents, emergency responders and our employees,” the company said.
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McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed.