CONYERS — Rockdale Fire Rescue Chief Dan Morgan said he hopes to have the BioLab fire and cleanup effort wrapped up sometime Monday afternoon.

Morgan said firefighters and hazmat personnel were working to address pallets of trichloric acid that had caught fire or that were smoking. The process involves moving the pallets out of a BioLab warehouse with heavy equipment and then placing the pallets in a vat of what is essentially bicarbonate of soda, Morgan said. That mixture is spread out and then rapidly submerged in water, which prevents it from reacting violently. Morgan said when the chemical is exposed to air and water simultaneously, it reacts violently, generating heat and bursting into flame.

Recommended for you

(0) comments

Welcome to the discussion.

Please log in, or sign up for a new, free account to read or post comments.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.