December 13, 2005 - At 5:22 am Salisbury Station 16 was alerted for a reported explosion with building collapse at the Salisbury Perdue Processing Plant.
First arriving units quickly realized that this was possibly a chemical explosion and upgraded the incident to a first alarm hazmat.
Engine 16's crew rapidly assessed the incident and determined that there was a major building collapse of Perdue's waste water treatment building with an unknown chemical release.
The possible chemical was identified as Sodium Chlorite. Crews then backed out and waited for the Salisbury Hazmat Team to assemble.
Hazmat teams from both Worcester County and Ocean City were also requested to the incident. Hazmat crews made entry into the scene to assess the resources needed and the stability of the collapsed building.
It was determined that approximately 25% of the building was completely destroyed including an 8000 Gallon chemical holding tank inside.
The Ph of the chemical on the ground was close to neutral.
It is believed that when the explosion occurred a city water main was severed which help dilute and neutralize the chemical. Two Perdue employees and the truck driver were transported to Peninsula Regional Medical Center's Emergency Room priority three for chemical exposure.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation by numerous agencies. The scene was turned over to Perdue for clean up. Last units cleared at 1026 hours.
About 50 fire personnel were on scene.The cause has not yet been determined.
