An order to keep residents indoors has been issued in Rutherford County, Tennessee, and specific neighborhoods are being evacuated, after a commercial vehicle carrying swimming pool cleaning supplies crashed into another truck, officials said.
The truck carrying pool cleaning supplies like chlorine tablets, oxidizers, and corrosives caught fire on the side of the highway near the tree line, according to a Rutherford County 911 dispatcher and the Tennessee Highway Patrol, sending the the toxic plume into the air.
Authorities in the area are working to evacuate residents in the Buchanan Estates neighborhood and on Rankin Road and Aldridge Road. The evacuation is about one mile down winds from the accident, officials said.
“If you are smelling a slight smell that’s okay,” Tim Hooker, Assistant Director at Rutherford County Emergency Management Agency cautioned this morning. “Just get out of the area.”
Wind could could potentially pose a danger to residents, as it pushes toxic air further from the crash site, but authorities noted that the current is moving slowly this morning.
Prior to the evacuation, asked people within a one square mile radius of the accident to stay indoors, because authorities believe the air is toxic.
This order applied to all residents and businesses within the affected area, which is located near a large residential neighborhood as well as farm land.
Westbound lanes on the interstate were closed as crews worked to contain the spill early Wednesday. A 911 alert first came in at 2:49 a.m.
HAZMAT crews as well as Rutherford County, Tennessee Emergency Management, and Tennessee Highway Patrol officials are working the scene.
No buses will be going into this area to pick children up for school, Hooker said.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/authorities-warn-toxic-air-semi-crash-spills-hazardous/story?id=44183721