"I want to thank everyone for their outstanding cooperation in dealing with this very dangerous situation," said Easley. "Apex authorities and the first responders did a great job getting people to safety and putting out the fire. State agencies provided excellent support to local officials. The residents should be applauded for the orderly manner in which they left their homes and patiently waited until it was safe to return."
The EQ warehouse, a temporary storage facility for hazardous materials, caught fire shortly after 10:00 Thursday evening. Firefighters arriving on the scene smelled what appeared to be a smoke cloud of chlorine gas, which can be deadly when inhaled. Apex authorities immediately began evacuating a perimeter around the facility and Wake County opened shelters to house the residents.
The evacuation was necessary to allow hazardous materials teams the time to determine what chemicals were on fire, what the effect of those materials burning together would be, whether that created a public health risk and how to safely extinguish the blaze.
State agencies assisted with traffic control and deployment of state assets including two hazardous materials Regional Response Teams, a State Medical Assistance Team, a Public Health Regional Surveillance Team, a Division of Air Quality air toxics team, and Division of Waste Management and Division of Water Quality teams.
Firefighters were able to douse the remaining flames overnight. After air and water testing revealed no hazardous materials, Apex officials began a phased re-entry for evacuees at 8:00 this morning.
"This event has been a model for how a crisis should be handled, and is an example of how good emergency planning and preparedness can help local communities," said Easley.
