BEAUMONT, Texas — Beaumont firefighters quickly doused an accidental fire involving a hazardous chemical at a FedEx Freight facility Wednesday morning.
The fire involved at least one trailer at the FedEx Freight location at 1020 South 8th St.
Firefighters were dispatched at about 8:50 a.m. and before 9:15 a.m. the fire had been extinguished.
One firefighter was transported to St. Elizabeth Hospital around 2 p.m. as a precaution.
There was a fire in one transport trailer that contained hazardous material, according to Beaumont Fire Rescue District Chief Scott Wheat.
White says the trailer contained 6, 55 gallon drums of a toxic smelling colorless chemical called "epichlorohydrin", according to Beaumont Fire Chief Earl White.
"We arrived to find a trailer on fire and we've since learned that it's epichlorohydrin which after being exposed to fire can be highly unstable," said Chief White.
Epichlorohydrin can be highly unstable after being exposed to fire.
One witness was able to make a call and request the fire department.
"I told them if you guys don't get here then the building might be on fire," said Security Finance Rachel Dean.
Dean was surprised at what she saw when she looked out the window at Security Finance on College St.
"We noticed as we can look outside right here we saw some white smoke," said Dean. "At first it was dark smoke and we were like wait a minute there's some flames, we need to call [the] fire department, so we called 9-1-1."
Several engines responded to the fire.
"It actually started on the north end of the business in a 53 foot box trailer. We used our normal process we used water on it, but once the product was identified then it became a hazmat incident," said Chief White.
Responders are trying to figure out how to handle the product based on the manufacturer's suggestions.
The facility is DOT registered, which means they carry packages and hazardous materials, according to Chief White.
They used water to extinguish the fire, but once they realized the product was a chemical and potentially hazardous, they called in the Beaumont Hazmat team to identify the chemical.
People at nearby businesses were worried about what the truck contained and concerned about whether the flames might spread.
"We didn't think of anything that could've happened because it was at the further end of the truck," said Pathway Vocational Academy's Mikelle Patillo. "So it's like, well that's not the motor, you know parts like that components of that nature, so we couldn't think where it came from."
The flames were very intense and smoke from the fire could be seen from blocks away.
"Then we look out these windows that are here at the school Pathway Vocational Academy and we just saw black clouds, black smoke and before we knew it we started seeing the actual flames," he said.
Employees were evacuated from the building to a parking lot across the street before responders arrived and there appeared to be no injuries. No other businesses were evacuated.
"I stood at the door while, when the flames started because the black smoke started billowing for a second there it got intense and then like I said there were about 6 fire engines and they all were doing what they needed to do," said Dean.
The building sustained minor damage and one trailer is destroyed.
People at another nearby business couldn't help but look on as the flames continued to billow a thick black smoke.
"It was very surprising. We were very prayerful for the people at FedEx hoping everybody made it out and nobody was hurt."
Beaumont Fire, Beaumont Hazmat and a clean up crew has been contracted through FedEx.
Crews next step is to move the chemical, however it needs to be stable before they are able to move and dispose of it.
They don’t know how the fire started.
The public is not at any risk, according to Chief White.
"The public is not at any risk at all. We did have one firefighter transported to St. Elizabeth for observation, but the report is he's going to be okay," said Chief White.
South 8th St. is still blocked off by BPD.
Authorities are not sure when FedEx will open back up.
Beaumont Fire Rescue conducted a hazmat operation to stabilize the product, according to District Chief Wheat.
The scene was turned over to a private contractor to remove the remaining product, the truck and complete all remediation.
There was no severe impact to the environment.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
