WATCH LIVE: Officials brief on fire at Biolab in Rockdale County, GA | FOX 5 News

A fire started at the Biolab on Old Covington Hwy in Rockdale County. This is closing several roads in the area. Safety officials are warning those in the area to stay inside and keep windows closed to minimize exposure to potential hazards.

[sabrinaoliver]

Everyone in the area needs to demand a list of the chemicals in the plant

[needinput]

I don’t believe a word these people are saying.

[blagalong]

One would think if you have water reactive chemicals maybe the sprinkler system should be made to work with foam or powder or whatever else is suitable for those chemicals.

[DonBrust]

seems off AF.... they store water reactive chemicals in an area that has sprinklers bro? BRO?!

[aggiesim]

environmental science student from GA here because there's a lot going on in these comments:
1. this place is not a lab, it is an industrial production facility owned by a pool cleaner chemical company named "BioLab" based out of Lawrenceville.
2. negligence on the part of the facility is to blame for this accident, the third in seven years. companies love to cut corners and industrial safety standards to save costs. in the end they commonly sacrifice the health and safety of their workers and communities for an extra dollar. this place needs to be shut down.
3. the chemical in question is likely pellets of TCCA or Trichloroisocyanuric acid, which reacts with water to produce chlorine gas and hydrochloric acid which disinfects your pool. this is obviously bad when you have a warehouse full of it and store it near a sprinkler system and it spreads across a metropolitan area. again, negligence.
4. it's likely that this facility manufactures several other products with similar compounds to TCCA, which is why the name of the compound and the chemicals in the reaction were not immediately reported. it takes time for test results to be verified before information can go out to news media and the general public because they do not want to cause panic, and because "backtracking" with newer or more accurate information makes them look worse. still, i think it should have been reported sooner.
5. unless you live directly inside the facility in question, you will be okay with no long term serious effects as long as you stay indoors where your HVAC units can filter air ambiently coming in from outside. this is why the emergency officials say to stay indoors with the AC off as AC draws outside air inside at a much faster rate. wear an N95 mask if you want to filter out smoke particles, otherwise face masks are worthless in this situation. you can only filter out gases with an elastomeric respirator.
hope any of this information was helpful to folks.

[lovechangesus]

Liars. Of course they know what the chemical is. They are just deflecting liability.

[mongexo]

The Rockdale community should sue the city and state for permitting such lab operate next to their homes it’s obvious it’s dangerous.

[catherinebabusiak]

Why would a chemical plant put a sprinkler system above water reactive chemicals???? Sounds a bit fishy to me - especially since she said it the third time.

[Lovewins]

This isnt the first time this facility had a fire

[raymondjackson]

The one thing you can usually count on is they are probably lying about something.

[peeferff]

Why haven't public alerts gone out? Thanks to news media for reporting. Public officials have failed in alerting communities... press conference failed saying its contained but no radius of threat nor what chemicals were exposed... this should have been public health phone alert for Rockdale, DeKalb, Gwinnett and other nearby counties possibly exposed. Incompetent handling of public health threat and little transparency. Not the first time chemical threats in Rockdale.

[TaterFarm]

What about SDS REPORTS TO THE FIRE DEPT REQUIRED BY THE EPA. How do they not know what chemicals are in the smoke headed east to all counties as far a Clarke at this point. Then start to disburse to other areas. You should know Chief, You should have the INFO.

[roylung]

Question? Why did officials allow a BioLab to be built & used near where people live & work? We need real newsmen like many past heroes/reporters!

[feminoz]

Leave if you're north of the place. I wouldnt trust anything they tell you about the air quality.

[sabrinaoliver]

So is anyone going to ask the obvious....what was the chemical?

[SlapGod]

Open up the Maintenance Logs of the building and trailers. You will find a history of patterns of non-compliance. Old money controls and owns this. If you have a Temporary Agency this could be a great contract for you to have access to considerable the People who sign up too for employment opportunities. They prey on the low income/ have you sign a nda with in the contract that prevents you from suing in case you fall ill.
Even being a forklift operator is not easy or them 75 lbs buckets they be slaggin off roll lines. Old dominion money slave operations that should have been shut down in 1980’s. But hey who am I to say about this money making slave operation I’m not even in my sovereign mind to think straight about the mask pulled over me.

[restoreme]

Why is Biolab so close to the residents of the county? Is Biolab dollars worth jeopardizing the people's lives? The sheriff stated that this is the third incident in seven years. Do people have to die to consider moving that plant, not just the product?

[Kjt]

"The fire is out." Famous last words, considering the entire building blew tf up an hour ago

[NOchanceFF]

You mean to tell the fire chief doesn’t know what kind of chemical is in that building lol… Right….

[archygirl]

How did they not think that maybe water sprinkler system might be a dangerous idea?