A series of explosions and a fire destroyed a large portion of a Spartanburg County chemical plant Friday morning.
Fireballs "lit up the sky" as containers of chemicals at the plant blew up, witnesses and firefighters said.
The explosions and fire are at the Glo-Tech International plant, located on Perkins Road off Exit 80 on Interstate 85.
Emergency crews have closed the exit, but traffic is traveling along I-85. Eight fire crews, deputies and a hazardous materials team are at the scene.
Spartanburg County Emergency Services Director Doug Bryson said that residents who live within a half-mile radius of the plant are being asked to "shelter in place," that is stay inside their homes and turn off air conditioning and fans that bring in air from outside the building.
There were three employees at the plant working overnight, but all were able to get out of the plant safely and are accounted for, Bryson told WYFF News 4.
The explosions happened at about 4:20 a.m. A trucker reported that there were a series of five to seven explosions that lit up the sky.
A fireball roiled an estimated at 40 feet in the air and smoke from the fire rose about 600 feet.
State Department of Health and Environmental Control and hazardous materials crews said that no hazardous levels of chemicals had been detected in the air.
DHEC spokesman Thom Berry said that the agency will continue to monitor air quality in the area.
The plant makes polymers and uses "hazardous and non-hazardous chemicals," Bryson said.
WYFF News 4 has a crew on the scene. Check back for more information as it becomes available.
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