Fire and Explosion Damage Kansas Chemical Plant

A fire and explosion Thursday caused damages to a chemical manufacturing plant used to produce organophilic clay for oil and gas production in Rice county, Kansas, numerous local news media sources reported.

Fire crews and hazmat teams responded to the JACAM Chemicals plant, finding a fire in a building located on the southeast corner of the firm’s property, the Hutchinson News reported. Witnesses told television news station KWCH that barrels exploded periodically, sending flames into the sky. The cause of the incident is presently unclear.

“The building has burned completely up. The fire has been allowed to continue and burn for safety and issues,” Rice County Emergency Management director Greg Klein told television news station KSNW. “We will be monitoring this for the next 24 hours.”

The Hutchinson News reported that firefighters did not apply water directly to the fire, instead opting to let the blaze burn itself out. The clay manufactured by the firm is a powder that is mixed with other chemicals to produce a material that lubricates drilling bits, the News said.

“Sometimes adding water to a chemical fire makes it worse,” Rice County Emergency Management director Greg Klein told the newspaper.

No injuries were reported during the incident, though the workers at the building on JACAM’s property were evacuated.

“The chemicals are not listed as toxic at this point in time. It is no danger to the public,” Klein said in KSNW’s report. “We will release if there is danger to the public.”

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