Chemical Fire In NC

Oh man, what a mess:

APEX, N.C. — Shifting winds forced Apex officials to expand an evacuation area early Friday to protect residents from a chemical gas plume that continued to spread from an industrial fire that has raged since late Thursday.
Town Manager Bruce Radford said a leak at the EQ North Carolina plant on Investment Boulevard sent several large plumes of chlorine gas into the air around 9 p.m. Thursday. A large fire broke out at the plant afterward, sending flames more than 100 feet into the night sky and setting off multiple explosions.
EQ is a licensed hazardous-waste facility that serves businesses.
Apex and Wake County officials declared a state of emergency early Friday and evacuated about 16,000 people — half of of Apex — within hours.
…Weatherly said the fire had spread to a nearby petroleum farm and had ignited four storage tanks containing a total of about 200,000 gallons of fuel. Officials were unsure if the fire had spread beyond that, however, he said.

They’re just going to let it burn out, and may have to evacuate more folks.

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